Vengeance is Mine!
by Ghost in the Machine
Summary: Ghost gets tired of seeing certain themes in fanfiction and decides balance is needed. Do not take this too seriously. Ryoga defeats Ranma and decides mere victory is not enough. Rated M for good cause.
1. First Causes

"Vengeance Is Mine!"

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and the characters associated with it belong to Rumiko Takahashi and whomever she has sold the rights to. This work of fanfiction is not intended for monetary gain, but was written just for the fun of it.

Author's note: This is a spam fic, therefore it is not to be taken seriously. You have been warned. Contains things that warrant an 'M' rating, which is why it's rated 'M'. You have been warned. This is what happens when I see certain themes in fanfiction getting repeated what I think is just a little too often. You have been warned.

-----

Ryoga Hibiki stood over the defeated form of his greatest enemy. At last, he had beaten Ranma Saotome. The fact that he'd slipped Ranma enough barbiturates to kill a herd of elephants before the match didn't take away from the pride he'd felt. Or the relief, because the fight had been far tougher than he'd planned.

But he'd had to do it. Ranma had to pay for almost getting Akane killed during the whole Saffron thing. Therefore the battle had been beyond such concepts as 'fair play' or 'honor' or 'sanity' or 'safety of bystanders'. No, this had been a set up from the get go. The assistance he'd received from Nabiki had been worth every yen and every beefcake picture she'd demanded of him.

Looking down on Ranma's unconscious form, Ryoga chuckled.

"heh heh heh..."

It quickly developed into a laugh.

"Ha ha ha ha Hah."

From there it degenerated into malevolent cackling and rubbing of hands.

"Bwah hah HAH! Bwah hah hah Hah HaaH HAAAAAH!"

Then came the coughing fit.

"Huh... huh... uuuhhh... uuh..." Gasp, hack, cough, wheeze, INHALE.

After two deep steady breaths, Ryoga got ready for his big declaration.

"VENGEANCE IS MINE!" Ryoga shouted loud enough to confuse comic book fans on two continents.

After the declaration, Ryoga thought about exactly what sort of revenge he had obtained. It wasn't much. He'd beat up Ranma. Big deal. People, including himself, had beaten Ranma before. The problem was that Ranma wouldn't stay beaten. In fact, as soon as drugs wore off and Ranma woke up, there was no doubt that he would be after Ryoga like a shot. Without either a new move (which he didn't have), more drugs (which would be very difficult to administer even if he had them) or one big boatload of luck (hey, it could happen) Ryoga's prospects in a rematch were dim at best.

Despite his many faults, Ryoga couldn't kill someone in cold blood. He'd been exposed to the temptation before and it was a line that he would not cross. So Ranma's life was safe. But there were plenty of other lines that he wouldn't even slow down for prior to obliterating them.

Ryoga pulled Ranma's unconscious form into a secluded place, took his canteen from his pack and dropped his pants.

-----

Ranma opened his eyes and slowly resolved the world around him. He was still by the forest cliff where he'd fought Ryoga. He could tell from all the Bakusai Tenketsu shattered boulders. He was sore in several places from temple to chest to back to groin, or since he was in female form for some reason, crotch.

Ryoga had cleaned his clock, no doubt about it. With 20/20 Saotome hindsight, Ranma realized there had been something in the water besides water that he'd drunk in the chugging contest before the fight. Ranma struggled to his feet and fell down immediately. A few more failed attempts were enough to convince him to just lie there for a while.

With nothing for his body to do, his mind came up with, 'When I get my hands on that bastard, I'm gonna make stir fry out of him. No, I'm gonna have Akane make stir fry out of him. That way nobody will eat it.'

Ranma drifted off to sleep with a vague smile on his, well her, face.

The next time Ranma awoke, he'd recovered sufficiently to sufficiently to make it home. It was late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, when Ranma dragged his (her) ass into the spacious Tendo bathroom. He set the furo to filling with hot water while he sat down, lathered himself and dumped a bucket of cold water over his head. Shocked fully awake, he finished rinsing off as the water level in the furo climbed.

Finally, Ranma stepped into the oversized tub and settled in to enjoy his hot soak. Unfortunately, he didn't revert to male form. Ranma suppressed a scream of outrage so as not to wake the rest of the house. With both his parents living with the Tendos until the repairs on their own home were complete, the need to remain calm and quiet outweighed the need to shout, scream or perform other unproductive demonstrations. ("Any day now," the contractors said. Which was the exact same thing they'd said every day for the last two weeks.)

'Ryoga musta threw some kinda whammy on me. Herb had the locking ladle when I saw him in China, so I bet this is sumthin else. Guess I'll havta check in with the old ghoul today. That's gonna suck.'

At breakfast, Genma, being Genma, made comments on how weak his son was for being defeated under any circumstance whatsoever. Soun fished his unconscious panda body out of the koi pond a few seconds later. Nodoka, being Nodoka, made a comment that being trapped in a female body was a major obstacle on the road to manliness. Ranma made no response to this, but did note that perhaps his father had dragged him on so many training journeys for a reason. The more he dealt with his mother, the less mothering he wanted.

Kasumi was supportive, but that wasn't a surprise. Nabiki gloated. Also not a surprise, even though Ranma was unaware of her part in Ryoga's temporary victory. Akane didn't gloat, but was far from anything that resembled being supportive. Ranma had come to realize that Akane did love him, in a way, but that love was strongly oriented toward his male side. His female side just weirded her out too much. It was what made the loss of the Nannichuan at the wedding so painful.

Although the Jusenkyo Guide had indicated that the springs had returned, their magic hadn't quite made it back to 'normal'. The cask Ranma had been given (and that Happosai drank) was from Nannichuan set aside before the flood to make Instant Nannichuan powder. Water newly taken from what had been the Nannichuan wasn't doing anything to the test animals other than getting them wet. Either the magic would return on its own or there would have to be another tragic story before Ranma could obtain a cure.

-----

It wasn't a cure that Ranma sought as he entered the Cat Cafe, it was a return to the status quo. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only person seeking that.

"Ai- Ranma! Shampoo so so happy to see you. Not think Ranma come back to Cat Cafe again," the Jusenkyo cursed Amazon warrior said with something resembling relief in her voice. After what was commonly referred to as 'The Wedding Fiasco', a deal had been struck. Shampoo would not refer to Ranma as her husband, Ranma would keep Kodachi from using her family's influence to have the Joketzu tribeswoman deported. It was a complete bluff on Ranma's part, but he had learned something from Nabiki's treatment of him over the last year.

Cologne was aware that Ranma was bluffing, but didn't object for reasons of her own. It had something to do with Shampoo's questionable performance during the whole Saffron affair. Getting captured and brainwashed by the enemy meant that even if Ranma Saotome could be brought into the Joketzu, perhaps Shampoo wasn't the best person he could marry.

"Uh... Hi Shampoo," Ranma said nervously. While he was grateful that Shampoo no longer called him 'Airen', the change was still recent enough to worry him. "Is Cologne here?" he asked.

That was another thing. He would think 'Old Ghoul', but he stopped using those words when Cologne stopped referring to him as 'son in law'.

"You wished to see me?" came a voice from just behind Ranma's ear. Whirling in surprise, Ranma caught the smile on the aged Amazon leader. Nearly laughing at look on Ranma's face, she added, "Having an off day? You're normally much more aware than that."

Deciding not to engage in verbal sparring, Ranma got straight to the point. "Had a fight with Ryoga yesterday. I'm pretty sure he drugged me first so I lost. When I woke up, I was female and when I tried to change back last night, I didn't."

As she led Ranma to a table, Cologne said, "You seem to be taking it pretty well."

Ranma shrugged and replied, "I've got stuck before. After the first few times, ya stop panickin' about it. Just tell me what's causin' it so I know what I havta beat out of Ryoga."

"And what would I receive for telling you?" Cologne asked as she balanced on top of her staff.

"Huh?" Ranma grunted.

"Come now," Cologne replied casually. "With the... situation... between you and my granddaughter currently in abeyance, you certainly don't expect me to assist you out of the goodness of my heart."

The change in the Amazon dynamic forced Ranma to think. "Fair enough," he eventually said. "I'll do a week's worth of waitressing. How's that?"

"I do not wish to subject Shampoo to the stress your presence would cause," Cologne answered calmly. "So make it a week's worth of work outside the restaurant and two sparring sessions with Mousse."

"Outside the C-C-Cat Cafe? What do you-"

"I'll think of something young man."

"And two sparring sessions with Mousse?" Ranma asked seeking confirmation.

"Of at least two hours duration."

Ranma thought of asking why, then realized the Cologne probably wouldn't tell him unless he worked and/or sparred more. So he took the easy way out. "Deal."

After they discussed the fight with Ryoga in detail, Cologne pulled a pencil and pad from her robes and scribbled quickly. "Very well. Monday after school, go directly to Keio Hospital in Shinjuku. Go to the Oncology department on the third floor and find Doctor Xixian Zong. Give her this slip and do whatever she tells you."

"Don't ya have some ancient Amazon technique that'll tell ya why I'm stuck?" Ranma asked.

"Young man, I am assisting you to the best of my ability. Do not make me regret doing so," Cologne replied.

-----

Four days passed. Slowly. The one major plus was that Ranma's parents had moved back into their own home. The down side was the longer he remained stuck in girl form, the more Akane distanced herself from Ranma. Of Ryoga, there was no trace. Kasumi had called Akari, ostensibly to swap recipes, and found out that Ryoga hadn't been seen at the Unryu farm for over a week.

Ranma was quite glad when Cologne called him to the Cat Cafe Thursday afternoon to discuss the results of Ranma's bloodwork.

-----

Shampoo was out making deliveries, Mousse was off to pick up certain supplies from vendors who didn't deliver and Cologne had put up the 'Closed for private event' sign when Ranma walked in.

"Were you not who you are, you would be dead," Cologne said once Ranma seated himself.

"Huh?"

Cologne waved a piece of paper covered with arcane medical symbols. "This you idiot. You say Ryoga drugged you on Saturday. You walked in here Sunday under your own power and had your blood tests done Monday afternoon."

"So?"

"You had enough curare and digitalis in your system to kill a normal man three times over. And that was two days after the fact you..." Words failed her. "The initial dose must have been enormous."

"Well yeah. I kinda figured that," Ranma admitted.

"Well, for reasons that I cannot fathom, your heart didn't stop and your skeletal muscles continued to function." The continuing internal battle over whether to bring Ranma Saotome into the Joketzu had received a major push when Cologne had started reading the results. Someone, even a male, capable of surviving such an attack had genes the Joketzu needed.

"So why am I stuck as a girl?" Ranma asked.

"Oh that's easy." Cologne pointed to a small note at the bottom of the results page. "You're pregnant."

-----

End part 1

-----

Author's notes, round 2: I don't know if I'll continue this. If I do, it'll get a lot darker than I normally like to write. Multiple murders dark. A spam fic isn't supposed to be dark is it?

Thing is, I've been seeing a lot of "somebody gets pregnant" fics lately and the one thing that they've had in common is that no matter what the circumstances are, rape, accident or whatnot, no one ever considers an abortion. At least not for more than three seconds. Of such things are story ideas formed.


	2. First Responses

"You're pregnant."  
  
The words rattled around inside Ranma's head for a few seconds. A small frown appeared on his (currently female) lips. Cologne noticed this and dove for cover. Amazon history would later record this as 'A Good Call'.  
  
The fireball was a relatively small one. The devastated area was a one meter bubble centered on Ranma's female form. The table was gone, as were three chairs, two lighting fixtures and a small chunk of the floor. So were Ranma's clothes, but he was far too angry to be embarrassed.  
  
Ranma noted the damage he had caused. For something that wasn't a formal attack, it was impressive enough. But the distraction provided by observation was enough to allow him to shunt his burning anger to the side of his mind. He realized it was far too dangerous to let run wild.  
  
"Sorry 'bout that," Ranma stated in a voice that was far calmer than it should have been.  
  
"Perfectly understandable. I might have done the same in your position."  
  
"I'll make it up to ya." Waves of heat, along with wisps of steam and smoke, rolled off Ranma's body as he pulled himself from the small hole he had created.  
  
"Thank you. Will you require any assistance in taking your revenge?"  
  
Ranma turned his right hand palm up and focused his mind. Letting a tiny fraction of his anger loose, a brilliant red aura sprang into being, stronger around his hand than the rest of his body. Cologne, with over a century of experience with chi phenomena, had seen more raw power on a few occasions but never that much generated that quickly. "No, I think I can handle it."  
  
Ranma clenched his hand into a fist as he banished his aura. Finally noticing his nude state, Ranma said, "I seem ta have fried my clothes. Do ya got anything I can wear home?"  
  
"I'll see what I can find."  
  
As Ranma dressed himself in mismatched odds and ends from both Shampoo and Mousse's closets along with a few items kept on hand for any visiting Joketzu, Cologne very carefully filled Ranma in on some of the lore involving Jusenkyo and pregnancy. Apparently, even the Cursed Springs respected the sanctity of motherhood. Ranma would be stuck as female as long as he was pregnant.  
  
"That's while I'm pregnant right?" Ranma asked. "I don't havta actually give birth."  
  
"As far as I know, no," Cologne responded.  
  
"That's a relief."  
  
Cologne managed to hide her disappointment. Joketzu law was quite clear that a rape victim had sole authority on whether or not to bring any resulting pregnancy to term. Ranma clearly had no intention of carrying the child. Which would be a shame because it would mean the loss of the Hibiki genetic line entirely. Cologne already considered Ryoga dead. While she didn't consider the young man's potential as great as Ranma's, the Joketzu could have used Hibiki's strength, assuming his navigational disability wasn't genetically linked. The loss would be a shame. Unless...  
  
"I will have Mousse and Shampoo search for Hibiki. If they find him, I will inform you," the Amazon matriarch said. A truthful statement, if not complete.  
  
"You don't have to do that Cologne. I'll find that pig bastard when I'm damn good and ready," Ranma replied as he completed dressing.  
  
"Considering the circumstances, it is the least the Joketzu should do."  
  
-----  
  
As he headed home, Ranma considered what to tell the Tendos and his own parents. Or whether to tell them anything at all. As he entered the neighborhood where the Uc-chan stood, he quickly dismissed the idea of saying anything to Ukyo. What happened was none of her business unless she was harboring Ryoga and he was still a bit angry about what she'd done during the wedding fiasco. It was comparatively nothing compared to the rage he held toward Ryoga, but there was no need to potentially confuse targets.  
  
Approaching the Tendo Dojo, he reached his decision. He would tell the Tendos nothing, or at least as little as possible. It was not their problem and he most definitely did not want to hear the reactions he would get from them. He might be able to tolerate Kasumi's pity. Nabiki would attempt blackmail or treat the whole thing as some sort of twisted joke for her personal amusement, neither of which she'd survive. Soun Tendo would have an emotional outburst of some sort and cry that 'The Families Will Never Be Joined'. Something Ranma was sick and tired of hearing.  
  
Akane would call him a pervert for getting sexually assaulted while unconscious. And beat him for blaming Ryoga. Any mention of what happened would also trigger Akane's morbid fear of rape. Something which had taken him almost a year to figure out that she had in the first place, thank you Tatewaki Kuno. She'd probably break the engagement again, which bothered Ranma for some reason he couldn't quite define.  
  
No, the Tendo family would not be told the truth. His own parents were another story. Family honor, personal honor, duty and the overwhelming desire not to be like his father all pointed towards telling them what happened. If he went to prison for his intended future events, they had the right to know why.  
  
Ranma entered the house proper after exchanging the ill fitting shoes Cologne had provided for house slippers. As he headed up the stairs toward his room, he met Kasumi coming downstairs with a load of laundry.  
  
Kasumi gave her sister's fiance what could only be considered an odd glance. "Ranma, is something wrong?" she asked. The concern in her voice sounded genuine, even if the look on her face seemed out of place to the eyes of one Ranma Saotome.  
  
"Nuthin' that wasn't wrong yesterday," he admitted. True, although what he had learned earlier had cast the problem in a much different, much harsher and much more personal light.  
  
Kasumi didn't let it go that easily. "I know some people think I'm oblivious. Or that I'm too busy cooking, cleaning and being polite to deal with the 'real world', and maybe that's true sometimes. But I know, as certain as sunrise, that something is bothering you more than being stuck as a girl."  
  
"That obvious?" Did Kasumi's connection to the _wa_ of the household give her some quasi-mystical insight? Was she really that much more observant than Ranma gave her credit for? Did she know, or could she guess, what Cologne had told him?  
  
"The clothes you're wearing sort of gave it away."  
  
Ockham's Razor had finally managed to function in relationship to Ranma's life for one brief shining moment. If Ranma had known what Ockham's Razor was, he'd have appreciated the irony. Assuming he knew what irony was because a fish doesn't notice water until he is removed from it.  
  
"Just a new chi technique that got outta hand." Truthful yet incomplete statements were becoming quite the rage in Nerima. Although Ranma noted that it was rather odd how he kept avoiding direct lies when talking to the eldest Tendo daughter. He wondered if anyone else was subject to the effect.  
  
"Oh my," Kasumi said inevitably. "It is nice that being a girl isn't interfering with your martial arts training, but please try to be more careful. You don't want to hurt anyone by accident."  
  
"You betcha," Ranma answered cheerfully as he headed toward his room to change clothes. When he got to the hurting people portion of his plans, the last thing it would be was accidental.  
  
-----  
  
Ranma got through the rest of the day with minimal annoyance. At dinner, Akane feigned disinterest, but Ranma knew she was still upset over the whole 'stuck as a girl' thing. Nabiki made snide comments about the situation until Kasumi scolded her for it. Soun managed a vague inquiry about how long Ranma's current condition would last. When Ranma replied that he should be unstuck in a few days, he noted considerable relief from everyone present except Nabiki. Her relief was as phony as a wooden 50 yen piece.  
  
Had Ranma been the inherently suspicious type, he might have thought it worth investigating. As it was, Nabiki's involvement in the events that led up to fight with Ryoga remained unknown. By such things are lives kept or lost.  
  
As Ranma did his homework that evening, it was a surreal experience. Not that he cared about school or anything related to it. But there was something satisfying about alternating one math problem with one note on how and where to dispose of a corpse. One sentence of a history essay with one idea of where Ryoga might be hiding, if he were hiding and not just lost. One conjugated English verb with one thought on how to draw out a fight so as to inflict maximum pain. Ranma mastered conjugation before he fell asleep.  
  
-----  
  
It was time to tell his parents why he'd become trapped in female form. Ranma found himself on a generic looking fog covered street. His parents' newly rebuilt home stood in a gleaming ray of sunshine while everything around it was indistinct and hazy. He entered the house, not even remembering to take off his shoes.  
  
Apparently, the house had been completely rebuilt. The place was laid out differently than what he remembered from his last visit. Unsettling how something that should have been familiar was so completely strange.  
  
Ranma wandered through the place looking for his parents. He heard voices coming from the far side of a sliding door. Pushing the shoji aside, he saw his father standing there, _ten meters tall_.  
  
His features were a horrid combination of panda and human with a trace of cat thrown in for bad measure. "YOU INSIGNIFICANT WORM!" the apparition bellowed in a voice that reverberated in Ranma's bones. "YOU'RE A WORTHLESS AND WEAK LITTLE GIRL! HOW DARE YOU SHAME THE SAOTOME NAME BY ALLOWING YOURSELF TO BE RAPED! I'LL TEACH YOU THE PRICE OF FAILURE!"  
  
A giant panda's foot came down to crush Ranma into paste. He dodged left, thankful for his female form's greater speed. An enormous sign of the type his father used to communicate while transformed, bearing the words "Failure: 54,837 Yen", whistled past Ranma's head in a near-miss. Ranma leapt over the return swing, a brilliant red aura enveloping his right fist. Into the punch, he put all his fury, all his rage, all the anger he had ever felt over the things his father had done to him in his entire life.  
  
"GROW... UP!!" Ranma shouted as he landed his blow square on his father's gigantic nose. The release of emotional energy didn't quite blind the young martial artist to the results of his punch. Genma popped like a soap bubble. After landing, Ranma spun around to prepare himself for an expected onslaught. Nothing.  
  
Ranma was wary. There was no doubt his father would use the Umi-Sen-Ken if he thought his life was truly in danger. The forbidden stealth techniques would remain forbidden only as long as it was to the older man's benefit. Still nothing.  
  
Without dropping his guard, Ranma scouted around the larger than he remembered yard. All he found was a paper bag with a caricature of a man drawn on it. The man was undoubtedly his father, although the longer Ranma looked at it, the more he felt there was something of Happosai in the image as well.  
  
"You see your father for what he truly is," Nodoka said from her kneeling position in front of the family shrine. Ranma had failed to notice her there during his fight and subsequent searching of the yard.  
  
Nodoka rose and turned toward her son. Ranma saw she was dressed as always, in a formal kimono with properly tied obi. She carried the Saotome Clan sword, not in the bundle she habitually toted around, but tucked through her sash and slung to the side where it wouldn't interfere with the slow walk she began toward her son.  
  
"I had hoped that during his travels with you, your father would transcend his nature. That he would become more than a bag of hot air with the goal of living off the sweat of someone else's brow like his so-called Master."  
  
Ranma saw his mother walking toward him, but she wasn't getting any closer. Instead, she was changing before his eyes.  
  
"But he failed in that, just as he failed in making you into a man among men. Had you not already destroyed him, I would have been forced to do so myself."  
  
Ranma wanted to speak, but his tongue wouldn't function. He wanted to move, but his feet wouldn't obey him. His mother had doubled in size. Pointed fangs protected past her lips. Sharply curved horns sprouted from her forehead. The creature that had been his mother drew the sword she carried. Its blade gleamed wickedly in the increasingly harsh light.  
  
"I understand that he did his pitiful best. I realize that Genma could not make you a man among men because he had no idea as to what that truly meant."  
  
Slowly, ever so slowly, Nodoka approached her son, her skin turning green while her hair went from a red only a little darker than Ranma's own to pitch black. If Ranma could not speak and could not fight this thing his mother had become, he would at least die facing his fate, not cowering from it.  
  
"So don't worry my son, I'm not going to kill you for that. You are not responsible for your father's failure."  
  
Nodoka reverted to her normal appearance faster than an eye blink. But Ranma was still paralyzed and his mother still carried the clan sword. She raised the katana high, as if getting ready to swing a baseball bat.  
  
"But being raped? I know that I could never live with such a stain on my honor. Therefore, the least I can do is make sure you won't have to."  
  
The blade flashed and Ranma woke screaming.  
  
-----  
  
As he sat up on his tatami gasping for breath, Ranma heard bare feet clamor down the hall and stop just outside his room. The door flew open and silhouetted against the hall lights stood a nightmarish form with three heads and six arms. Ranma was ready to punch first and ask questions not at all when the figure resolved into the separate forms of Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi.  
  
"Are you all right?" the eldest girl asked.  
  
"Sorry. Just a nightmare," Ranma answered while trying to pull himself together.  
  
"It is too early in the morning for this crap," Nabiki grumbled tiredly before returning to bed.  
  
Akane was getting ready to launch a major tirade when Ranma said, "Ain't had one that bad since I'd dreamt that Saffron killed Akane."  
  
Instead of an angry demand that Ranma be more considerate, Akane decided to let him off the hook. She simply stated, "Go back to bed Ranma."  
  
Kasumi watched her younger sister walk back down the hall and enter her room. Afterwards, she turned to Ranma and said, "You never answered my question. Are you all right?"  
  
"No," Ranma admitted.  
  
"Would you like to talk about it?"  
  
"No," Ranma replied firmly.  
  
"Are we going to talk about it?"  
  
Ranma hesisitated. Of the entire Tendo family, Kasumi was the easiest to talk to and the last person he wanted to burden with his troubles. Maybe there would be a time and place to discuss things with her. But 3:45 AM on Friday morning wasn't it. So it was with some reluctance that Ranma shook his head negatively.  
  
"If you change your mind," Kasumi said, "you know where to find me."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
After Kasumi left, closing the door behind her, Ranma realized that the rape, and the subsequant pregnancy, bothered him a lot more than he had admitted to even himself. Talking to his parents could wait. Getting an abortion would come first.  
  
-----  
  
End Part 2  
  
-----  
  
Author's note: To the reviewer 'anonymous'... I would bloody well hope it was obvious to the reader that Ranma was pregnant. Anyone who couldn't figure it out probably shouldn't be reading this story in the first place. Now go teach your grandmother to suck eggs.


	3. First Blood

After tossing and turning for an hour, Ranma gave up on the idea of getting any additional sleep. Instead, he got dressed and bundled up his borrowed clothing for return to the Cat Cafe. Needing only two minutes for those tasks, it was still too early so Ranma headed out to the dojo proper.

The place had been pretty much destroyed during the wedding fiasco, but the rebuild was progressing satisfactorily. At least there were four walls, a roof and a floor. The money that Ranma and Akane had received as wedding gifts had almost stretched far enough for materials. Nabiki, after being threatened by both sisters, paid for the remainder. (Of course, she never mentioned the check from the Kuno family's lawyers that would have paid for the whole thing.)

Some of the labor had been donated, some Ranma had provided. Soun Tendo did a surprising (to Ranma) amount of the work himself. More labor would be needed in the coming weeks and months. The floor was unfinished, bare beams showed in the walls and roof. But the spirit of the dojo, as a place for martial arts and martial artists, was alive.

Ranma turned on the work lights strung from the main house as the dojo didn't have power yet. He drug two large straw mats to the middle of the concrete floor. Somehow, the dojo sign reading "I Ro Ha" had survived and now hung from the central beam of the south wall. After minimal stretching, Ranma began a kata that would have been impossible for most, difficult for a select few and moderately challenging for him.

He couldn't find his rhythm. Which is a poor way of putting it considering he wasn't supposed to have one. Rhythms could be predicted and a predictable opponent was an easy target. He'd seen people doing katas to music and immediately dismissed the concept as dangerously stupid. Real life doesn't move in 4:4 time.

Switching to a slightly easier kata, Ranma tried again without success. Dropping into lotus position, Ranma tried to figure out what was wrong. 'Rhythm' was definitely the wrong word. What did that leave? It wasn't mechanics. Ranma had enough experience with his female form to know what it was capable of doing. The katas he had attempted were nowhere near his female form's current maximums. The drugs Ryoga tricked him into taking had completely worn off. Then he realized the problem. It wasn't rhythm or mechanics, it was flow. The smooth movement from one element to the next. The tiny adjustments in balance that can add or subtract from the power of a blow. The difference between breaking a board and breaking a hand.

Certain that he had figured out the problem, he sprang to his feet and started the second kata again. Better, but not perfect. More improvement on the second and third repetitions. Good enough on the fourth go around that he tried the original kata again.

Halfway through, he didn't torque his hips enough to complete a backflip kick. Underrotating, his feet hit the mat at an angle that completely destroyed his momentum. His hands shot out to cushion his fall. Done wrong, the average person might break their collar bone. Done by Ranma Saotome, he was merely left in push up position.

"Had this been a real fight, you would now be dog food," Ranma noted sarcastically. That's when he realized the true problem. He'd come to the dojo, not as a martial artist, but as something else. Exactly what, he didn't... couldn't... know. But the martial artist's harmony between mind and body, between himself and the world, was missing. Even worse than missing, in discord.

Quickly standing up, Ranma left the dojo. He would not return until he could be there as a martial artist. Whatever he was now didn't belong.

-=-=-

After his regular breakfast of miso soup and rice, Ranma walked to school alone. Akane had taken to walking with Nabiki, which Nabiki felt was hurting her profits. Some deals just couldn't be made with one's little sister standing next to one. All those beefcake shots of Ryoga for lonely girls to buy and Akane kept eating into her sales time. It was all very aggravating to the middle Tendo daughter. Although unaware of the specifics, anything that annoyed Nabiki was fine by Ranma, so he wasn't making an issue of it even though he would have rather walked with Akane.

But walking alone meant he could walk on the fences for a change. Akane wore dresses. Even if she had the balance for it, she wouldn't walk where people could look up her skirt. Once Ranma realized this, he'd begun walking at her side more often instead on any fences in the vicinity. Out of habit, he'd used the sidewalk for two days before returning to the higher path after Akane stopped going to school with him.

Besides being good balance practice, fence walking also gave Ranma a better view of his surroundings. Anything that helped spot problems before they arrived. Like Mousse standing on the corner two blocks ahead of him.

Ranma thought briefly about detouring around the part-time duck before dismissing the idea. He wanted to save his anger for the right target. But if there were any volunteers, that was good too. If Mousse made one smartass remark, he'd have to wait until broken bones healed before getting the sparring sessions he'd promised Cologne. The distance between Mousse and Ranma closed steadily.

Leaping down to a point just out of arm plus training potty's length in front of the Chinese hidden weapons master, Ranma said, "Yo Mousse! What'cha doing here?"

"Peace Saotome. The old monkey told me to drop everything and get a hold of you before you got to school."

"She found Ryoga already?" Ranma asked in surprise.

Mousse froze. He thought he'd already put the puzzle together. But this was the last piece. Mousse had heard Ranma was stuck as a girl from Shampoo. He'd found the medical report when he fixed the hole Ranma made. No patient name was listed, but since pregnancy would lock a Nyannichuan curse, Ranma was obviously it. With the curare and digitalis, he'd originally guessed Tatewaki Kuno had finally gone over the edge with the drugs provided, one way or another, by his twisted sister. But that didn't explain Cologne's urgent message to the village Wednesday night or Shampoo's sudden departure for Hiroshima Thursday afternoon.

But if Hibiki had got Ranma pregnant, that explained everything.

"Uh... no," Mousse said emotionlessly. "Cologne told me to give you this." From his oversized left sleeve, he pulled out the check for 100,000 yen made out to 'Bearer' that Cologne had given him less than an hour ago. From his right sleeve, he slowly pulled the results of Ranma's bloodwork.

As Ranma took the pieces of paper from Mousse's nerveless hands, he noted the Chinese teen's near complete shock. "Go ahead and say what ya wanna say. I mean it's obvious ya know Ryoga raped me."

"Saotome... Ranma... That is so fucked up."

"I see you're being literal today," Ranma said coldly. "Very cute. I give it an eight." It looked like Peking Duck was going on the menu along with Stir Fried Pork.

"You think I'm being cute? You think I'd gloat about something like this?" Mousse asked seriously. "This is nothing to joke about. The Joketzu have been living practically next door to Jusenkyo for around three thousand years. You think this is the first time something like this has happened?"

Ranma was caught seriously off-guard. He was so used to having Mousse in the role of rival that he had problems thinking of him in any other way. Eventually, he answered, "Hadn't really thought about it. I've been a little preoccupied this week."

Mousse shook his head slowly. "Let me assure you, Amazons have some very definite opinions about rape. Not that I personally agree with all of them. In the early days of the Musk, lesser warriors used to dunk male prisoners in the Nyannichuan, rape them until they became pregnant and _then_ returned them to their home villages where they would usually be killed by their own families. They didn't even need the locking ladle because the curse would lock on its own once the victim was pregnant.

"Hell, the reason they switched from mating with wild animals transformed by the springs and then locked to female martial artists was because the Joketzu started taking in the victims. After a decade of learning how to fight as women, they went back and kicked the Musk's ass. The Musk were so impressed that they changed their entire way of life. Of course, they managed to screw up again later, but that's another story."

Ranma looked at Mousse as if he'd suddenly transformed into his history teacher. Except that his voice wasn't a sleep inducing monotone. "Ya know, if you'd've told me this when we were after Prince Herb, things woulda been a _lot_ simpler."

"The old bat made me read all the Musk records after we got back. I didn't know it then," Mousse explained.

Ranma snorted in an amused manner. "Cologne stuck ya with homework and you're not even in school. That's funny."

"Laugh all you want," Mousse said while internally adding 'This once, I'll let you get away with it.' After some initial reluctance, he'd found it to be interesting material.

Ranma put the medical report into his book bag. The check he held out to Mousse. "Thanks, but tell Cologne I don't need her charity."

"That's not charity Saotome, that's a loan to cover expenses."

Expenses. Something that Ranma hadn't considered. Getting an abortion would cost money that he didn't have. Most of what he earned doing odd (and occasionally down right strange) jobs, wound up either in his stomach or Nabiki's pocket. "Why is it every time I think Cologne's gone senile, she turns right around and proves she ain't?"

"Consider yourself lucky Saotome," Mousse replied. "She's been doing it to me most of my life."

-=-=-

After a brief discussion, decisions were made. Ranma would drop by the school long enough to turn in his homework before working on his larger problem. With the amount of effort spent on his studies, Ranma would make damn sure he received credit for it. Afterwards, Mousse would take him to Shampoo's OBGYN for the procedure. Ranma didn't want to go to the Tendo daughters' 'female stuff' physician because he'd be recognized.

Unfortunately, Ranma forgot that no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. Even if the enemy has a small palm tree growing out of his head.

"Aloha Keiki!" shouted Principal Kuno split seconds before a pineapple exploded in Ranma's face. Mousse started laughing, sheerly out of reflex, until a second pineapple blew up in his face.

"Don'tcha know it's time for all da bruddas and wahines to be in school? You be late, you be gonna get a nice buzz cut." Shears appeared in the man's hands as if by magic.

Ranma did not trust himself to start a fight without accidentally killing someone. For the most part, he'd been able to channel his rage off to the side. But it was still there, still available, and still capable of vaporizing things if released uncontrolled. So Ranma tried to bareface his way out. "We don't go to Furinkan High School."

For a moment, Principal Kuno's Hawaiian accent disappeared. "Uh uhh," he said waving a finger. "Tacchi and Dachi may not have figured you out, but I did."

"_I_ don't go to Furinkan, you moron!" Mousse added angrily as he pulled a baseball from his sleeve and let fly. He nailed the older man square on the bridge of his sunglasses and snapped his head back.

Mousse had no experience with just how resilient his target was.

As his head came forward, an evil smile appeared on the crazed educator's face. "I tink ya still be needing some education dere bro! Lemme show ya how we give haircuts to da bad little bruddas!" Kuno-koucho bellowed as he rushed toward Mousse and Mousse's long hair.

Mousse reflexively dodged the first swipe from the shears but the second was too close for comfort. "Fist of the White Swan!" he shouted, clonging the principal upside the head with a child's swan shaped training potty.

Shrugging off the blow and the two that followed, the Hawaii obsessed man tossed another pineapple at the hidden weapons master as a distraction before circling left for another attack with his shears.

Ranma, seeing the battle as well underway, headed toward the school alone. Fights with Principal Kuno had a way of running longer than most people expected. Besides, if Mousse couldn't take the old guy, he really needed those sparring sessions Cologne wanted Ranma to give him.

-=-=-

Ranma successfully dropped off his schoolwork and left the high school grounds with little comment. He'd get his assignments from Akane later if he felt like bothering. Miss Hinako, the only teacher who had a chance to stop him from leaving, was too busy eating chocolate to notice his arrival and consequently too hyped on sugar to prevent his departure.

After cashing the check Cologne had given him, Ranma had Mousse (hair intact and only slightly worse for wear) direct him to the not easily found office of Dr. Mame Suimono in Bunkyo. Once the temporarily female martial artist put his hand on the door, the occasionally avian martial artist took off like a bat out of hell. Mousse had done what he had promised, he wasn't about to volunteer for anything more. Ranma didn't blame him.

-=-=-

Ranma had a brief attack of nerves as he looked around the waiting room. There were two dozen women and girls of ages from 'too young' to 'don't wanna know'. Five of them were visibly pregnant. How many weren't showing yet? Were any of them planning abortions too? Were any of them there because they couldn't get pregnant? Ranma realized how little he really knew about 'women stuff'.

His right arm twitched until he consciously stopped it. He didn't belong there. The out of place feeling was ten times worse than the discord he'd felt at the dojo. This was a place for real women, not cursed men stuck as women. But he realized that no matter why anyone else was there, he had his own reason and it was sufficient.

Thus calmed, he nearly marched up to the receptionist's desk.

Where he was completely ignored for three minutes while the woman talked on the phone, apparently to her mother from what Ranma could hear of the conversation. Ranma noted she was a young woman with short dark hair, probably not much older than Kasumi but nowhere near as pretty.

"A-hem," he muttered quietly. There was no noticeable change in the babble streaming into and out of the telephone. Ranma tried to imagine Shampoo waiting patiently in a similar situation and failed.

"Excuse me?" he attempted in a normal tone of voice. The only result was for the receptionist to roll her eyes. Whether at Ranma or at the phone was difficult to tell. Giving the benefit of a doubt, he chose phone.

Two minutes later, with two women in line behind him and no variation in the babble, Ranma changed his mind. Looking around, he saw a small table top rock garden. Leaving his place in line, he chose a rock slightly smaller than his female form's fist. The women who had been behind him graciously allowed Ranma to regain his spot.

"EXCUSE ME!" Ranma said loud enough to draw the attention of every person in the waiting room. Even the receptionist's. What held their attention was Ranma crushing the rock into powder and pebbles with one hand.

"LoveyouMom, butIgottago. Bye!" the young woman said at amiguriken speed.

'Yes, she can be taught!' Ranma thought sarcastically before he said, "I'd like ta see a doctor as soon as possible."

"Do you have an appointment?" The question was as much a reflex action for her as dodging a punch was for him.

Ranma tilted his head slowly and stared. Pointing at the debris he'd just created, he asked, "Do I need one?"

Not willing to give up without a fight, and being a born bureaucrat, the receptionist started a prepared speech. "It's not fair to the other patients for you to ju-"

"Enkai." Hearing her name pronounced so sharply cut off the receptionist in mid word. From a nearby doorway, a brown haired woman, no taller than Ranma's current form, said, "I'll take care of it." Turning to Ranma, she continued, "After all, who needs to eat lunch?" Her name tag read 'Dr. Mame Suimono'. But a small round button she wore next to it read 'Honorary Amazon: Do Not Annoy'. Ranma hoped that it was a joke of some kind and feared that it wasn't.

Once the doctor had escorted Ranma to an examining room, she said, "Allow me to apologize for my partner's niece. But just between us, I've been wanting to hit her with a rock since Sarada-sensei hired her. You showed remarkable restraint."

"If ya only knew."

"Well, why don't you tell me then? I'm assuming that's why you're here."

Ranma opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He hadn't thought quite far enough ahead and needed to do some on the fly editing. Taking a deep breath for cover, he decided to stick as close to the truth as possible.

"I was drugged and raped last Saturday," he said bluntly.

If the doctor was shocked, she didn't show it. "Have you contacted the police?"

"No." Involving the police had never crossed Ranma's mind. This was a personal matter. Involving outside agencies would... complicate things unnecessarily.

"You really should," Dr. Suimono stated firmly. "How can we function as a modern society when rapists are allowed to roam free? The person responsible should be caught and punished." By the time she had finished speaking there was a decided edge on the doctor's voice. She was no rape counselor, despite some hard-earned field experience.

"The police would want evidence. But there's no proof except I'm pregnant."

"It's only been six days. How can you tell?" she observed doubtfully. Ranma pulled out the medical report on his bloodwork and silently handed it to the doctor. Glancing at the results, which indicated fatal levels of multiple drugs as well as a pregnancy, she asked sharply, "Is this some kind of joke?"

Ranma shrugged. "It stumped Cologne too."

Doctor Suimono's face fell at the mere mention of the Amazon matriarch's name. "So much for being a joke," she muttered quietly before telling Ranma, "Begin at the beginning."

Ranma quickly told his story with forced calmness covering blazing rage. The challenge letter. The chugging contest. The fight. The fact that he lost. The inability to move when he woke up. The fact that he went to see Cologne the next day because he didn't 'feel right'. Going to the hospital on Monday. Finding out he was pregnant Thursday. Finally, his current presence in an examination room Friday. Through it all, he never revealed his name or Ryoga's.

"You seem to be taking this very well young woman," Dr. Suimono finally said. The petite red-head in front of her had proved quite a quandary. It was a reaction so atypical of most rape victims that she didn't know how to respond. No tears. No hysterics. No shouting. No blaming herself. Just a desire to have an abortion and get on with her life.

For a procedure that was still technically illegal in most cases, abortions were not uncommon in Japan. The relative lack of contraception options for women guaranteed that. In Japan, it took thirty five years of wrangling and testing before 'the pill' became available to Japanese women for birth control. In comparison, Viagra® took six months for approval with no clinical trials at all.

There were times Mame Suimono hated her homeland.

"Yo, Doc! Ya in there?" Ranma said waving a hand in front of the gynecologist's face.

"My apologies once again. When you get to be an old woman like me, you'll get distracted too."

"I hope not," Ranma replied for multiple reasons.

"Normally, I would give you a horrificly long speech about birth control, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other things the Ministry of Health and Welfare thinks you should know. But since those morons couldn't find their collective ass with a road map, complete directions and a three day head start, I think we can skip everything except the STD's which I do insist you get tested for."

Ranma smiled until Dr. Suimono reached the last part. He didn't think that Ryoga would be carrying any sexual diseases, but wasn't willing to take the chance that pig-boy had magically got over his shyness with women before their fight. The bad part was medical tests weren't cheap. "How much is this gonna cost me?"

"Quite a bit I'm afraid. It's too late to use emergency contraception and considering this," she waved Ranma's medical report in the air, "I don't think it would have worked anyway. Same for RU-486 and its chemical cousins. Sadly, abortion and contraception are not covered by the National Health Plan and public assistance funds for either have been tied up in the Diet since before you were born.

"So all told, it will cost just under one hundred thousand yen." She tapped the 'Honorary Amazon' button on her lab coat. "And as for everything related to this, no records will be kept and your anonymity will be maintained."

Ranma nodded, pulled out his wallet and counted out twenty 5,000 yen bills into a neat pile on the examination table. While his wallet was open, Dr. Suimono saw Ranma's Furinken High School ID card, complete with a photograph of his male side. She noted a family resemblance but said nothing. She knew that the young woman in front of her hadn't told her everything and this minor slip up was the only clue she had pointing toward further information. Whether the young man in the photo was relative, rapist or both, Dr. Suimono planned to find out.

The procedure itself had to wait until the good doctor was finished with her other patients. The samples to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases were simple enough. The new HIV test took only twenty minutes to come back negative. The others would do the same eventually.

In the operating room, Ranma basically ignored the nurse who did his prep work. When the real procedure began, he took a local anesthetic and kept his eyes closed. All he felt was a vague discomfort as his cervix was dilated followed by the noise of a small suction machine that emptied his uterus. A spoon shaped instrument, called a curettage, was used to ensure the abortion was complete. Ranma opened his eyes too soon and saw that the procedure wasn't as bloodless as he'd thought. He knew it would not be the last blood spilled over the incident.

After it was over, Dr. Suimono warned Ranma about possible complications such as cramping and vaginal bleeding. Ranma didn't care. A little cramping was a small price to pay and if the procedure worked, he wouldn't have a vagina much longer.

Arriving at the subway station, Ranma boldly walked into the Men's Room. Turning on the faucet, he waited the few seconds necessary for the water to heat up. Putting his hands under the flowing stream, the change was instantaneous. He was finally back in his normal form. Now he could face his parents. Now he could kill Ryoga.

-=-=-

End Part 3

-=-=-

Author's Notes: I tried to do it, but I couldn't. I was going to write this chapter without regard to reality, but certain habits are too ingrained. I actually did a little research on both contraception and abortion as practiced in Japan while writing this chapter. Some of what I read really pissed me off. Go google "Contraception in Japan" if you are interested in more information.


	4. Interludes: Ryoga and Shampoo

Interlude: Ryoga  
  
For one of the few times in his life, Ryoga Hibiki was not lost. By definition, he couldn't be lost because he cared neither where he was or where he was going. It pleased him to wander through the rugged Japanese countryside. Later, he planned to go to the Unryu farm and determine what, if any, relationship he could have with Akari. Later, he planned on going home on the off chance that one of his parents would be there. Later, he planned to visit the Tendo dojo one final time so that Ranma could beat him up.  
  
While not thrilled by the prospect, he knew that a fight with Ranma was inevitable. His persistent foe would never be content to let Ryoga remain one up on him. He knew that at some point, he'd fight Ranma again, and unless something unexpected happened, he'd lose. Which wouldn't bother him at all.  
  
Because the real victory had already been won. Ranma couldn't undo what had already been done. Ryoga would forever be more of a man than his Nyannichuan cursed adversary. Unlike Ranma, he'd never been raped. It was something that he could hold over the bastard forever.  
  
And the very best part, the one thing about the situation that pleased Ryoga the most: Was that Ranma... would never know. He'd never suspect what had been done to him. He'd never know how vulnerable he'd been. He'd have no clue how easy it had been.  
  
It would be worth taking one final beating. Because after letting his antagonist think he'd evened the score, Ryoga could get on with the rest of his life. The feud that had started years earlier over bread was finished and ultimate victory was his, no matter what Ranma did.  
  
For one of the few times in his life, Ryoga Hibiki was happy.  
  
-----  
  
Interlude: Shampoo  
  
As she laid on the bed of a rented hotel room in Hiroshima, Shampoo searched for a glimmer of hope in the situation between herself and her intended husband, Ranma Saotome. There wasn't much other than the fact that Ranma had finally returned to the Cat Cafe. True, it was to talk to Cologne instead of to date her, but it was the closest thing to progress since Ranma had nearly married that incompetent dimwit Akane Tendo weeks ago.  
  
She wasn't happy with her performance at the wedding. Shampoo was certain she could have disrupted the ceremony without things turning into a general melee if only she'd had time to prepare. The invitation from Nabiki Tendo had arrived too late for anything other than immediate, and poorly conceived, action.  
  
Yet it wasn't her own performance that had bothered Shampoo the most. _That_ had been the loss of the Nannichuan. Damn Soun Tendo for stealing it from Ranma to use it as blackmail material. Double damn that pervert Happosai for drinking it. Fear and greed, her own and others, destroyed more than just the opportunity for her husband to be cured. It changed things.  
  
A week afterwards, Ranma actually threatened her with deportation if she didn't stop calling him 'Airen'. Yes, he'd couched it as saying that it was the deranged gymnast's idea and only he could prevent it from happening. Ranma, for all his positive traits, was a lousy liar. Simple cross-checking with Kodachi had proved the story false. The crushing blow came when her own great-grandmother wanted her to act as if the things Ranma had said were true.  
  
Shampoo knew that her recent track record, to be honest, sucked. Destroying the home of Ranma's mother. Being captured by the Phoenix Mountain people before getting brainwashed to fight against Ranma. Which particularly stung because Ranma's fat panda of a father had figured out a way to make himself useless against his son despite the mind control _he_ was under. All that followed closely by her behavior at the wedding. Maddening, simply maddening how badly things in her life had gone awry.  
  
Faced with this, she didn't even tell her ancestor that she knew the truth about Ranma's threat. Better to be thought a fool. Better to give her husband time to settle down. Better even to get a chance to think about why Cologne had sent her to Hiroshima.  
  
She was supposed to meet an Amazon hunting party that was due to arrive in two or three days. Originally the assignment had offended her. The thought that she needed help in tracking someone as unmistakable as Ryoga Hibiki. The fang toothed boy had no concept of stealth, even Mousse could follow Ryoga's trail once the spoor was caught.  
  
But with a chance to think about it, Shampoo was able to come to some conclusions. Most trips from the Joketzu village were routed through Osaka or came directly to Tokyo. There was no need for her to be over 600 kilometers from Nerima other than to not be _in_ Nerima. The list of warriors she was expected to lead was another clue. All maidens aged 15 to 20, all skilled trackers and all, with the exception of Sihong Gao, among the 'prettier' members of the tribe.  
  
And their target was Ryoga Hibiki, who fainted at the mere hint of female flesh. Around women, he was nearly bad as the Musk. What was the connection between the upcoming hunt and Ranma being stuck as a girl? Had Ryoga found something like Prince Herb's ladle? If he had, why hadn't Ranma gone after it himself? Although the ladle could only lock a curse, it couldn't unlock it. Maybe that was it.  
  
No, that still left the lost boy. The obvious intent was for one or more of the Amazons to fight Ryoga. And lose. Although she had no interest in him herself, she did realize that other women might have use for a strong man. She thought it unfortunate Akane had never realized Ryoga's feelings for her. It would have saved a ton of trouble.  
  
But why? Or more particularly, why now? Ryoga had been at Jusendo. If any of her tribal sisters had wanted a crack at him, they'd had their chance. What had changed? What was the urgency? Why the big hurry to bring Ryoga into the tribe?  
  
-----  
  
Let it be said that Shampoo knew pregnancy could lock a Jusenkyo curse. Let it also be said that she couldn't picture Ranma being raped or Ryoga in the role of rapist. There is something to be said for innocence after all.


	5. Collateral Damage

"I'm home!" Ranma said in his pleasing tenor as he entered the living room from the porch. For the first time in a week, he'd returned to the Tendo home the same sex he'd been born. It had taken two additional stops for hot water on the way back from the doctor's office, but Ranma had refused to enter the Tendo compound in his cursed form. He couldn't just claim to be 'cured'. He would have to be seen as 'cured'.  
  
Soun glanced over his newspaper, noted his future son-in-law was finally in the correct gender, smiled and returned to his reading. In response, Ranma dismissed Soun's reaction without even a glance. As he headed for the stairs, he spotted Kasumi in the kitchen pan frying new potatoes in sesame and vegetable oil. There was evidence of more food to be ready soon and it smelled great.  
  
Without turning her head, Kasumi said, "Oh Ranma, there you are. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes."  
  
"Thanks, Kasumi."  
  
The eldest Tendo daughter turned down a burner before she spun to face Ranma. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked.  
  
Ranma cocked his head, managed a small smile that he almost felt and replied, "I'm feelin' a little better." Whether or not his emotional state would improve further would depend heavily on how the meeting with his parents went.  
  
"My offer still stands."  
  
"Ooh. What offer might that be and does Akane know?" Nabiki said from the stairs. Ranma and Kasumi both turned to face the newcomer. Neither one wore what could be called a friendly expression. Her older sister's disapproval bothered Nabiki far more than Ranma's ever could. Determined not to let it upset her, she got on with the task at hand, which happened to be tweaking Ranma Saotome.  
  
"Nice to see you're back to abnormal," she began.  
  
"Thank you," Ranma stated coolly.  
  
"I'll have to let Kodachi know. For a suitable fee of course." It was her way of trolling for a bribe from Ranma to not tell the Kuno girl.  
  
"Nabiki," Kasumi said firmly.  
  
"Sheesh. Can't anybody take a joke?"  
  
Ranma's vision twitched for a split second. For an instant, he saw Nabiki not as she was, dressed in slacks and a sweater taken from Akane's closet. Instead she hung from barbed chains, in tattered shorts and the remains of a torn dark blouse, covered in bruises and bleeding out from a slashed femoral artery. Oddly enough, the image didn't bother Ranma at all. "Depends on what ya think is funny I guess."  
  
'Swing and a miss,' Nabiki thought. "So, exactly what time did you get cured?" Nerima's answer to Donald Trump asked.  
  
"Why should I tell you?" Ranma questioned.  
  
The look of bafflement on her target's face was priceless to Nabiki. "I need it to settle to the betting pool."  
  
The student body at Furinkan would bet on anything. Why should this have been any different? Ranma shrugged and stuck out his hand. "One thousand yen."  
  
'About time he learned to do that', Nabiki thought. 'Now to see if I can teach him to negotiate.' She quickly countered, "500 yen."  
  
"Deal." Nabiki pulled a 500 yen coin from her purse and stuck it in Ranma's palm. After tucking the coin into his pocket, he said "6:24 PM today."  
  
'Damn, started too high. But let's see what happens when I raise the stakes.' With her best 'innocent' voice, Nabiki said, "I was wondering. Exactly what did Ryoga do that got you stuck in the first place?"  
  
Ranma laughed and answered, "You ain't got that much money."  
  
'Idiot,' Nabiki thought as she placed a smile on her face and said "I guess not." As she headed toward the dining room, she thought happily, 'Now I know it's something worth going after and all I have to do is ask Hibiki next time he shows up. Saotome, you big dumb jock, there are times you just make this too easy.'  
  
At some point in the conversation, Kasumi had returned to her cooking. Ranma pulled the 500 yen that Nabiki had given him back out of his pocket and tossed it so it landed right next to the salt shaker. Kasumi snapped her head around to see where the money had come from.  
  
"I know it ain't much, but could ya buy some ground pork next time ya go to the market?"  
  
"Of course Ranma. Is there anything you'd like me to make with it?"  
  
"Not really," Ranma replied ironically before he finally headed up the stairs. Moments later, he gave the bedroom door of the youngest Tendo two quick knocks.  
  
"C'mon in," Akane said absently.  
  
Ranma did and saw his fiancee twiddle a pencil in her hand while she read over notes taken during Chemistry class. "Dinner is almost ready," he said.  
  
Akane turned her head when she heard Ranma's voice. "Where were you all day?" she asked sharply.  
  
Ranma's perception twitched again. Akane wore the gown that she had almost got married in. A large trowel-like knife, suitable for cutting a wedding cake, replaced the pencil in her hands. Remembering that she'd asked a question, he spread his hands and waved at himself. "Uhh... This."  
  
Akane consciously noticed that Ranma was male and issued a rare apology. "Oh, sorry."  
  
Polite words were met in kind. "That's alright. I just wanted ta get today's assignments so I can work on 'em after we eat."  
  
Akane looked at Ranma, not quite as if he had two heads, but as if any interest in school and schoolwork was drastically out of character for him. Which it was. "You know, if you keep keeping up with your studies, people are going to think you're sick," she said jokingly.  
  
"Maybe I am," Ranma replied distantly. Unlike his fiancee, he was dead serious.  
  
-----  
  
Dinner was a surreal experience. 'Nightmarish' not being quite the right word. His imagination altered his perceptions. Akane kept appearing as a western bride in his eyes, except for the one time he'd said something to upset her, he couldn't remember what, and she'd looked like a fire breathing, red skinned demon. A beautiful demon, but still. Nabiki was invariably bound, beaten and suffering from some fatal injury. Even Soun changed appearance twice. The first time dressed as Happosai, complete with a giant bag filled with women's underwear slung over his shoulder. The second time bent over with a gigantic boulder on his back that would inexorably crush him under its weight.  
  
His own hands burned with a heatless blue fire. Or wore brilliant white dress gloves. Or dripped blood. Or grew scales and claws. Or bore a wedding ring.  
  
Only Kasumi never changed. Ranma wondered why he didn't see her as a mindless robot capable of only cooking, cleaning and saying "Oh my", or as a nurse, or as someone's wife or mother. But that was because at that moment, Ranma needed her exactly as she was.  
  
After dinner, Ranma went upstairs, did his homework in mechanical fashion without thoughts of revenge to motivate him and went to bed. He didn't fear what his dreams might bring. It was too late for that.  
  
-----  
  
Ranma's dreams were violent, bloody and completely forgotten by the time Akane dumped a bucket of water on him as an early morning wake up call. After the traditional "What'd'ya do that for!"/"You're going to be late for school!" exchange, Ranma realized that he didn't remember any dreams or nightmares that he might have had. And glad he was of it. Sometimes it was best to let one's subconscious run amok without knowledge of the details.  
  
-----  
  
There is a major disparity between public and private schooling in Japan. Public school students are expected to attend half days of school on Saturdays two or three times per month. Private school students get to keep their Saturdays for themselves. Which explained why Kodachi normally chose Saturday to show up. She didn't have anywhere else she was supposed to be.  
  
Ranma and Akane briskly walked toward school side by side. Akane kept a wary eye out for Kodachi while Ranma barely opened his eyes at all. The changes in perception that had plagued him the previous night hadn't gone away, they just kept finding new targets.  
  
'I wonder if this is how Kuno sees the world,' Ranma thought to himself. Salarimen were all faceless zombies. Clouds took on a variety of shapes to his eyes, but that was almost normal. Simple homes became mighty fortresses. Walls tripled in height and transformed from simple bricks into massive stone fortifications. Birds became mechanical creatures, novel in their construction.  
  
"Oh Hohohohohoho!" The familiar cry gladdened Ranma's heart. He couldn't wait to see what Kodachi turned into. He stopped to find out, forcing Akane to stop as well. She was instantly suspicious at Ranma's reaction, but would have been equally suspicious had he continued on. Trust being something she automatically expected from her fiance while seldom giving it in return.  
  
Black rose petals showered down from the tree branch on which Kodachi stood. Her ribbon spiraled lazily to direct the flow of her preferred calling card. Akane glared at the crazed gymnast. Ranma was disappointed. The only change to Kodachi was the fact she was hanging from the branch by her neck, strung up with her own ribbon. Turning purple to match her leotard as she strangled to death.  
  
"Oh dearest Ranma, set aside that base born commoner and realize the true ecstasy that is yours for the taking." Paralysis bombs were ready to take out the Tendo girl while preventing her beloved from fleeing the passion Kodachi planned to give.  
  
"Get a life you nutjob!" Akane shouted.  
  
Ranma smiled with the knowledge of how easy it would be to make his vision match reality. Or the other way around. He wasn't sure which. Kodachi noticed his smile and thought that finally Ranma was showing his feelings for her. That her dreams of being conquered by Ranma would finally come true. Then she saw his eyes and fear penetrated to the core of her being.  
  
"What got into her?" Akane asked as Ranma's suitor bolted from the scene.  
  
"I got no clue," the puzzled not currently a martial artist replied.  
  
The school was pretty much the school in Ranma's perception. Except that anything related to cold water; hoses, water fountains, toilets, what have you; took on a demonic aspect that oddly pleased him. It was nice for things that were dangerous to him to actually look the part.  
  
People were another story. Ukyo, who he still wasn't talking to, was a guy. Just as if she'd fallen into the Spring of Drowned Man. Most of the other female students had their heads replaced by balloons with faces painted on them. Airheads, the whole lot of them. The male students became walking, talking condoms dressed in Furinkan High School boys uniforms. It was an image Ranma successfully forced out of his head as too disgusting even for his warped mental state.  
  
"Stand aside from the beauteous Akane Tendo thou foul cur!" Tatewaki Kuno called out from across the schoolyard.  
  
Ranma smiled again as he turned to face the would be samurai. This one, he'd been looking forward to. As expected, Kuno was a clown. It was all there: Big floppy shoes, full makeup, round red nose, mismatched baggy clothes, his sword replaced by a cane. No wait, that last one was reality. Kuno had got his leg broke at the wedding and although the bone had knitted quickly, he still wasn't completely up to snuff.  
  
As a martial artist, Ranma would never attack a weakened opponent. Which, he realized, explained why Happosai was still breathing. But the cursed youth remembered that he wasn't a martial artist just then. If Kuno took a swing at Ranma (or Akane), he'd regret it for months.  
  
Kuno hobbled over to where Ranma stood. Akane, disgusted by the upperclassman and the real sword he'd used at her wedding ceremony, moved off to the side. She secretly hoped that Ranma would pound Kuno just a tiny bit. Kuno spun the cane in his hand and raised it above his head while putting all his weight on his good left leg.  
  
Nearby, Hinako Ninomiya noted the impending fight. Stopping delinquency, Ranma's in particular, was why she'd been assigned as his homeroom teacher for a second year. Pulling a 5 yen coin from her pocket, she quickly stepped to where she'd have a clean shot at both of them. "Aka Ja Byo Tsu Ma," she called out sucking battle aura from the combatants. Kuno's aura drained away, felling him on the spot while changing the teacher into her adult form.  
  
Ranma's aura, augmented and tainted by the intense hatred he felt for Ryoga, was more than she could handle.  
  
"EYYYAAAAAHHHHHH!" the well meaning educator screamed as if her body had been engulfed in flames. Which to Ranma's eyes, it had. Knowing the image was true in some sense, he cut off the aura flowing from him by sheer force of will. The screaming stopped.  
  
"Miss Hinako!" Akane cried as she raced towards her teacher.  
  
Hinako knew she had to get rid of the contaminated aura she'd drained or die. Forcing her hands into a crude circle, she shrieked, "Eight Treasures Change Return!" There was no target, by mere chance her hands pointed at the ground. A huge sickly yellow ball of energy slammed into the ground kicking up debris that scattered all the way to the school walls. Akane, Ranma and Kuno were all hit, but took no significant damage.  
  
A fully adult Hinako gasped for breath as she knelt on damaged grass. Akane swiftly tucked her shoulder into the teacher's armpit and took most of their combined weight as the woman struggled to stand.  
  
"What... What... have you done to me?" Hinako wailed plaintively. Akane was too surprised to be mad. Five small holes, three on her breast, two on her back, had burned through the teacher's clothing. Without knowing how they knew, all three understood that Hinako Ninomiya's aura draining ability was gone forever.  
  
"I... I... don't know," Ranma stammered.  
  
Akane's surprise had already transformed to shock and then anger. "My God Ranma. What did you do to her?" she nearly screamed. Had Akane not been busy supporting a loudly crying woman, she would have certainly attacked Ranma. Who might have actively defended himself as Akane had transformed into a demon once again.  
  
"I don't know what happened! I didn't mean for this to happen! It was an accident! Miss Hinako, I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Ranma said honestly. He reached out to comfort her, but Hinako moaned in fear and buried her head into Akane's shoulder.  
  
"Go away," the sobbing woman repeated over and over.  
  
Ranma looked at the crowd that had gathered and was still gathering. Finally, they all looked normal. Reality and his mind's eye had been forced into agreement. No one spoke.  
  
Ranma heard one final "Go away" and raced from the schoolyard to comply. Minutes later, he found himself under his favorite bridge. One of the few places where he ever felt at peace. But not then.  
  
"By all the gods... What have I done?" Ranma asked himself as he fell to his knees and wept.  
  
-----  
  
End Part 4  
  
-----  
  
Author's notes: To the reviewer Ryo... I don't think Ryoga would rape Ranma either. But given the Koi fishing rod story, I do think he's capable of rape. I consider any sex performed while under the effects of mind control, love potions, et cetera as rape. Because rape isn't about sex, it's about control. In this story, regardless of how I write him in other stories, Ryoga did what he did and that's the narrative hook I'm working with.


	6. Mistaken Nature

Ranma Saotome didn't have the practice at crying that Soun Tendo did, his tears ended soon enough. His turbulent thoughts, continually reagitated by Miss Hinako's scream echoing in his ears, took much longer to settle down. The sun had passed the midway point in it's journey from horizon to horizon before Ranma could think coherently, if not completely rationally.  
  
"I can't stay here forever," Ranma said aloud, his first words in hours. "Somebody'll come lookin' for me." He made no effort to move or hide... or be found.  
  
Now that the barrier had finally cracked, Ranma was able to think about what had happened, not just react to it. 'What the hell did I _do_ back there?' he asked himself. According to Miss Hinako, and his own personal experience, his teacher possessed unlimited ability to drain auras. The only effect sucking his excess aura should have had was that she'd remain in adult form longer.  
  
Which clearly had not happened.  
  
If it wasn't the sheer amount of aura she drained, it would have to be what was in it. His anger. His rage. His hatred. His... shame. Ranma had encapsulated his negative emotions and forcibly crammed them all into his subconscious mind. Thus displaced, his subconscious had leaked into his perceptions of reality.  
  
His teacher had actually done Ranma a great favor by draining some of his aura. It was analogous to reducing dangerously high boiler pressure by cracking a relief valve. The mental pressure caused by his excessive emotions were reduced enough that he could function normally. Assuming he, or someone else, didn't aggravate his condition.  
  
Unfortunately, Ranma understood almost none of this. He got as far as the theory that his emotional state had something to do with his teacher's reaction when he was finally found.  
  
"There you are, I had hoped to find you first," said the last person on the planet that he wanted to see at that moment. "Everyone has been searching for you," she continued.  
  
"Everyone?" Ranma retorted.  
  
"Very well, not quite everyone," Miss Hinako admitted. "Akane went home to wait for you there. Also, we didn't begin looking until school was over for the day." She'd changed clothes from when he'd seen her last. Which was understandable considering the damage her previous outfit had taken. Unlike the too tight or too loose clothes she normally wore to fit both her forms, the casual outfit his teacher now had on was clearly meant strictly for an adult Hinako Ninomiya. Ranma stared curiously as his teacher sat down with her legs tucked beneath her.  
  
"Oh, you noticed," Hinako said offhandedly with a wave at herself. "I bought this after I met your fiancee's father. On the off chance that I would ever have a use for it."  
  
A worry line creased Ranma's forehead. "Are ya all right?"  
  
"Mr. Saotome, I can honestly answer that question by saying 'I don't know.' All I do know is that my life has changed, whether I wanted it to or not, and that I will have to live with that change."  
  
Ranma beheld at with his teacher with carefully concealed awe. She had nailed his own situation perfectly without even realizing it.  
  
Hinako continued, "I've already noticed some... differences in the way I think. When I was in child form, I became very childish. Going through puberty on fast-forward and back ten times a day didn't help either. Thanks to you, or perhaps curses to you, those things are past. I'll have to be an adult all the time. I'll have to learn new ways to teach, to discipline delinquents, to deal with others."  
  
Ranma's mind raced to find ways to adapt what his teacher said to his own situation.  
  
"Who knows, I might even learn how to drive now that my feet will always reach the pedals." She rolled her eyes in pleased contemplation. "... definitely need to buy a new wardrobe."  
  
Before she drifted further off topic, Ranma formally bowed and apologized. "I am very sorry Miss Hinako."  
  
"As well you should be Mr. Saotome," she replied solemnly. "It was a very painful event. You've completely altered my life and forced upon me a most difficult task that I never asked for. The fact that it may turn out to be my greatest opportunity is moot."  
  
Ranma nodded in acknowledgement.  
  
"But what's done... is done. I know in my soul that it cannot be undone. We will both have to live with that fact."  
  
"Yes, we will," Ranma admitted. "But I'm still sorry."  
  
Hinako nodded in agreement and stood up. "Before I forget, your English assignment is to read chapter 4 of the current workbook and answer the questions at the end in English."  
  
Ranma rummaged around in the bookbag he'd carried with him in his flight from the school. He pulled out the English homework he'd meant to turn in after homeroom and held it out. "These were for today. Sorry they're late."  
  
Miss Hinako smiled and took the papers without comment before leaving.  
  
Soon after, a figure melted out of the shadows of the bridge. Dressed in full ninja regalia, Konatsu Kanzen allowed himself to be sensed, then seen, by Ranma Saotome.  
  
Two minutes later, Ranma finally asked, "Well?"  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Well are ya gonna say sumthin', or are we gonna fight?"  
  
"Which would you prefer?"  
  
"I'd prefer ya said sumthin'. There's only one guy I wanna beat up right now and you ain't him."  
  
"Good choice," the male, yet raised as female, former kunoichi said as he plopped down next to Ranma.  
  
"Shoot," Ranma said simply.  
  
"It involves Ukyo-sama." With Konatsu, that was pretty much a given. Ranma certainly felt no surprise.  
  
"Ya know, if you'd've found me a couple of hours ago, I'd've told ya I didn't have anything to say to Ukyo."  
  
Konatsu snorted in amusement. "I found you three hours ago and have been leading people away from you ever since."  
  
"Why?" Not that he was ungrateful.  
  
"You weren't ready," the ninja said flatly. "But from your comment, I'm guessing you have something to say now?"  
  
"Tell her I'm still mad about what she did at the wedding."  
  
"I tried to talk her out of it," Konatsu quickly stated.  
  
"I'm sure ya did. But tell her... Tell her I got some stuff ta take care of first, but after that, if she wants, we can... do sumthin'."  
  
"Something?"  
  
"I don't know how else ta put it cause I don't know how I feel about Ukyo now. All I know is I ain't got any friends ta spare and I don't wanna lose another one."  
  
"You don't call her 'Ucchan' anymore," Konatsu observed.  
  
"I don't call her my 'cute fiancee' anymore either. 'Ucchan' was my friend. 'Ukyo' helped wreck my folks' house and then bombed my wedding. It's like she's a whole different person now."  
  
"She was scared and desperate Ranma," Konatsu explained. Desperation did strange things to the woman he loved as it did to many people. "Ukyo-sama loves you and thought you were making a terrible mistake."  
  
Harsh emotion crept into Ranma's voice. "It wasn't a mistake. It was my choice. Not hers. Ya know, that's what pisses me off most about the whole damn disaster. Nobody thinks I can make a decision on my own. Everybody just decides what's best for me and if they feel like it, maybe they'll tell me. But that just doesn't work 'cause no matter what I do, somebody gets hurt.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry I can't love Ukyo the way she loves me, or thinks she does. But for me, it'd be like marrying my sister," Ranma said before hastily adding, "If I had one."  
  
"I will give Ukyo-sama your message, but your explanation must be tendered to her in person," Konatsu stated as he bowed and stepped backwards.  
  
Ranma signaled agreement as the ninja melted into the shadows leaving him alone once more.  
  
The two conversations did Ranma a world of good. He'd been drawn out of a morass of doubt and self pity. He'd vented a small part of the anger that remained within him without hurting anyone. But the progress thus made left him with a choice. Returning to the Tendo dojo would lead to a confrontation with Akane. There was no way of knowing in advance whether or not she'd be rational. Experience said no, the fact that Miss Hinako seemed all right pointed toward yes. But not far enough towards yes that he wanted to risk his fiancee's temper.  
  
The other option was to go do what he'd originally intended for the afternoon. Which was to talk to his parents, no matter how painful the results would be. He'd put it off once, if he kept putting it off, it would mean that he was more like his father than he wanted to admit.  
  
Which made the choice simple. After taking a brief glance to make sure the coast was clear, Ranma set off for Adachi and his parent's newly rebuilt home.  
  
-----  
  
Unlike in his nightmare, the appearance of the Saotome residence matched what he remembered of it. Unlike someone who was sure of his welcome and his place, Ranma knocked and waited for admission.  
  
It wasn't long before Nodoka opened the door. For once, she was not carrying the Saotome clan sword. But then again, this was where she lived. As mother hugged child, Nodoka's joy in seeing her manly son was clearly evident. She said, "Ranma, I am your mother and this is your home. There is no reason for you to knock as if you were a door to door salesman."  
  
Ranma was glad to hear those words as he exchanged his thin-soled shoes for 'Brave Patrick' house slippers. Then he remembered why he was there. Screwing up his courage, he said, "Thanks mom. Is Pops here? There's sumthin' I gotta to talk ya both about. It's pretty serious."  
  
"Is there a problem between you and Akane?" Nodoka asked.  
  
"Not... directly," Ranma stated slowly.  
  
Further questions were interrupted by Genma's arrival. Within seconds, he'd drug his son outside and began sparring with an intensity Ranma hadn't seen in months. He scrambled defensively until he adjusted for his father's slight increase in speed and power.  
  
Without a dunk in the koi pond to determine victory, the fight lasted longer than normal. But eventually, Genma overextended while trying to strike his evading son and wound up on the receiving end of a joint lock. Ranma pivoted and threw his father hard enough to rattle the fence around the Saotome backyard.  
  
Genma quickly rolled to his feet looking none the worse for wear. "What's wrong with you boy? You getting soft?" he asked as he stalked nearer to continue.  
  
"Nope," Ranma responded as he swayed away from a punch. "Trying..." Ducked another punch. "Not ta..." Jumped a sweep. "Wreck..." Spun away from a grapple. "The place," he finished while completing the spin and elbowing his father in the back just hard enough to make Genma stumble.  
  
The elder Saotome wrenched himself erect and twisted to face his son. "You'll have to do better than that boy," Genma said as he faded from view.  
  
At his father's use of what was supposed to be a sealed technique, Ranma began to grow angry. The harmless fun of sparring faded to the aggravation of pointless combat. A blow, seemingly from nowhere, snapped his head around. Strictly on instinct, Ranma dropped to the ground and preformed a whirling sweep that connected with nothing. Regaining his feet, he looked for any traces of Genma's presence.  
  
A disembodied voice asked, "Are you sure you're not still a girl?"  
  
Ranma went rigid with anger for a split second. It was long enough for Genma to slam an open handed blow into his son's ribcage. Even caught off guard, Ranma managed to ride the force of the blow to a surprising extent. Instead of being sprawled on the ground, he remained standing.  
  
Had Ranma been able to use the Umi-Sen-Ken, he could have stalemated his father that way. But the excess emotions he carried would betray his presence as surely as waving a red flag. And as he had once taunted Ryu Kumon, he couldn't fight what he couldn't see.  
  
Or could he?  
  
Inspiration struck like lightning. Ranma released the negative emotions he'd kept bottled up for so long. A pale yellow aura exploded around him, filling the entire yard. Nodoka, who had been watching the entire fight from the rear doorway of the Saotome home, flinched away from the visible manifestation of her son's emotional state. Genma stood his ground, unconcerned with the seemingly pointless outburst. Until Ranma leapt straight at him in a flying kick.  
  
Ranma still couldn't see his father. But he could feel the dead spot inside the aura he'd released. Not as reliable as eyesight, but good enough that Genma lost consciousness before he could pull something else out of his bag of dirty tricks. Afterwards, it took a distinct effort for Ranma to cram his emotions back into the part of his mind they'd been staying in.  
  
A dousing with cold water didn't wake Genma, his panda form just snored louder. Hotter than necessary water sufficed to wake up and retransform Ranma's father. Who immediately wanted another crack at his son.  
  
"Husband, that is quite enough," Nodoka scolded. Genma ignored the tone of voice, he'd become used to it. It was his wife's glance toward the Saotome clan honor sword that convinced him to settle down. Returning her gaze to her husband, Nodoka said, "Before your little spat, our son said that there was something important he needed to discuss with both of us."  
  
As the three seated themselves at a low table, Ranma nodded in agreement. He took deep breaths to calm the Mothra sized butterflies in his stomach.  
  
"Would you like some tea?" Nodoka inquired. Ranma muttered negatively and Genma shook his head 'no' in response to the same question.  
  
"Well?" Genma asked gruffly. 'It can't be anything important', he thought.  
  
Ranma sighed. He knew there was nothing left to do, but to do it. "I found out why my curse got locked," he began.  
  
Genma began paying attention. While there were things he secretly enjoyed about his Jusenkyo curse, he had no desire to get stuck in panda form permanently. If what happened to his son ever happened to him, he wanted to know the way out.  
  
"It's nuthin' that would affect you Pop," Ranma said in response to his father's apparent interest.  
  
His parents waited patiently for Ranma to continue.  
  
"My curse locked 'cause I got pregnant."  
  
With those words, worlds shattered. Genma's expression went very carefully neutral. Nodoka's expression kept changing. From shock to disbelief. From disbelief to anger. From anger to hatred. From hatred to disappointment to disgust to resignation to even darker emotions. Eventually her expression became merely unhappy, but it was clearly just a mask.  
  
"Leave," Nodoka Saotome calmly told her former son.  
  
"Mom?" Ranma asked. He looked for some sign of compassion in his mother. He found nothing. Less than nothing.  
  
"Never call me that again. Leave now. Were you still my son, I would have to kill you for your unmanliness."  
  
"I was _raped _dammit!" Ranma shouted. He wouldn't even get the chance to explain. He'd lost before he'd started. He had been disowned as casually as a fly was swatted. Only a whim on his mother's part had prevented her from killing him.  
  
"Even worse!" Nodoka shouted back. Nodoka rose, walked over to the Saotome clan sword and took it down from its support pegs. She commanded, "Husband, remove that intruder from our home." With a quick motion, the naked blade stood shining in the brightly lit room.  
  
Genma stood, his face neutral, his body language broadcasting an absolute defeat. "Ranma, don't make this any worse than it is." With a gesture, he motioned Ranma towards the front door.  
  
It was odd to hear his father call him by name. He couldn't recall the last time his father had called him anything other than 'boy'. It called out for a response in kind. "Genma, ya know she's gonna kill you, right?" he stated as he... staggered... toward the rest of his life.  
  
Nodoka's eyes narrowed at her former child's comment. As he stood in the entryway, putting on his street shoes, he looked back one final time. Ranma's vision twitched. The Saotome home transformed into a torture chamber. Lamps became torches, wooden walls morphed into rough hewn stone. Tables changed into torture racks, chairs mutated into iron maidens. Bookshelves held thumbscrews, bamboo slivers, small knives and other less identifiable devices. Blood, old and new, was everywhere and a sharp metallic smell filled the air.  
  
His father, or more accurately the man who had been his father, lay dead on the floor, decapitated. A panda's head, eyes wide with surprise behind glasses, was impaled on a spike. The woman who had given birth to him, and yet never been his mother he suddenly realized, was transformed as well.  
  
Leather bondage gear replaced her normal kimono. A coiled whip hung at her left side. Amazingly, the Saotome Clan sword changed not at all and remained pointed at him. An expression of calculated cruelty marred her features. "I always knew I'd find an excuse to kill you," a voice that did and did not belong to Nodoka Saotome said.  
  
Ranma suddenly saw himself in the hallucinatory scene. He was in female form, stripped to the waist with fresh whip scars covering his/her female torso. Chains bound his cursed form hand and foot. Escape seemed unlikely.  
  
The apparition that was his mother swung her blade at head height. The dream Ranma ducked under the murderous stroke. A second blow was blocked with the chains in which he was bound. A thrust meant to pierce him from belly to spine was avoided with a deft twist.  
  
Ranma watched his dream self avoid blow after blow from an increasingly demonic and more powerful Nodoka. At last, the dream Ranma's strategy made itself clear. Using the chains to block again, a link was finally severed. A small section of his bonds fell loose to the floor. Pulling it through the restraining loop, he gained mobility and a weapon of his own. On his first attack, he wrenched the sword free from the green skinned monster that had once been a woman. Before the creature could do anything in response, the dream Ranma took the blade he had obtained and shattered it in his/her bare hands.  
  
The sun was heading toward the horzon and a brisk wind chilled Ranma's flesh as his vision finally cleared. That he was a long way from anyplace he recognized completely escaped him. His left hand covered a superficial wound to his neck and he carried the hilt of the Saotome Clan sword, with a handsbreadth of metal remaining attached to it, in his bleeding right.  
  
Once he realized he was no longer dreaming, he dropped the blade's remains and stared at the blood on his hands.  
  
-----  
  
End Part 5  
  
-----  
  
Author's notes: For some reason, a lot of fanfic authors put the Saotome household in Azuba-Juban. I figure that's much too expensive a place for Nodoka to have lived for so many years without visible means of support. So, just to be different I've placed the Saotome residence in Adachi, which is pretty much north of downtown Tokyo.


	7. Twilight

'What the hell?' Ranma thought as he looked at his hands. His left was stained with blood from a small wound on his neck. His right bore a straight seven centimeter cut between the heart and head lines of his palm that hadn't quite stopped bleeding. Quickly improvising a bandage with a piece of his shirt, Ranma wrapped the wound twice and tied off the ends using his nimble left hand and his teeth. While certainly not sterile, it would have to do until he could find something better. For some reason, figuring out how and where he'd been injured didn't seem... relevant.  
  
The immediate problem solved, Ranma attempted to figure out where he was. It was a residential neighborhood of some kind with small individual homes. Some unremarkable apartment buildings stood a few hundred meters away. None of it looked familiar. 'Can't ask anybody where I am lookin' like this,' he realized. 'Sun sets in the west, so west is that way. Once it gets dark enough, maybe I can spot the Ginza or Shinjuku by the lights. But I gotta get a better view.'  
  
Ranma walked briskly toward the tallest apartment building he could see. The hilt of the shattered Saotome clan sword was left behind unceremoniously. The few pedestrians out in the chilly evening air gave him a wide berth. Not that Ranma blamed them, he knew he looked like death warmed over.  
  
Scaling the side of the six story building with only one good hand wasn't difficult for the young man, just annoying. One matronly woman on the fourth floor thought he was a burglar and threatened to call the police. Ranma ignored her and continued his climb. Reaching the top of the structure, Ranma scanned the horizon in the fading light.  
  
The sun was half set, it's rays tinted the sky and clouds with reds, oranges and purples. Patches of yellow-white accented with colorful neon signs became relatively brighter as the sky continued to darken. Ranma took in the peaceful scene until his desire to figure out his location reasserted itself.  
  
'Since west is that way, if that dark patch is the Imperial Palace, that makes the river over there either the Sumida or the Ara. Either way, I'm in Katsushika. Course, knowing where I am don't tell me how I got here.'  
  
Ranma wondered why he hadn't wondered about it. He remembered telling his parents he'd got pregnant. His mother ordered him to leave and when he didn't move fast enough, she'd told Genma to remove him. His father motioned him to the entryway where he'd removed his house slippers and put on his shoes. Then he took one last look back and... fantasy. 'What really happened back there?' he asked himself, unaware that very topic was under discussion elsewhere.  
  
-----  
  
"Moshi Moshi, Tendo Residence, Kasumi speaking... No, Ranma hasn't come home yet... Yes, I will... Oh my... One moment." The eldest Tendo daughter set down the receiver, brought her father to the phone and returned to her ironing with a slightly worried look.  
  
"Saotome you old dog, how are you?" Soun said with a smile that completely disappeared seconds later. "She did _what?.. _Please tell me this isn't true... Oh my... I'll meet you there." Soun hung up the phone and left the Tendo compound with a speed that showed that yes, he had survived training by Happosai and yes, he was damn good when he needed to be.  
  
-----  
  
Dr. Mame Suimono stood, patiently of all things, in the Emergency Room of Toshima Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital waiting for her husband to finish rounds. Her son Nawatori was old enough to look after himself for an evening and little Yasei was busy getting spoiled by her paternal grandparents. So for once, she and her husband Oebi would be able to enjoy an evening out, if the man ever managed to stop seeing patients. Their dinner reservations were at 8:30 and depending how the trains ran, they would risk being late if they didn't leave soon.  
  
The doors to the ER flopped open and a gurney was pushed through. Mame caught a glimpse of a strapped down red-haired woman wearing a formal kimono. There were spots of blood on it, but the only thing that indicated an injury was a large square bandage on the woman's left cheek.  
  
The dark red hair briefly caught her notice. It could have been a dye job. Many women tried to make themselves stand out from the crowd with odd hair colors and elaborate makeup. But it did bring up memories of the girl she'd performed an abortion on the previous day. Curiosity pulled her toward the admitting unit. Although not on staff, she did have privileges at the hospital through consulting work provided by her husband.  
  
"What'cha got here Sam?" she asked informally of the ambulance crewman. A glance at the woman showed her to be unnaturally still.  
  
"Nothing major Doc," the uniformed young man replied. "Possible involuntary commitment from Adachi. Called in by the husband, but he wouldn't sign off on a medical protection commitment. Probably couldn't afford it. But the cops thought she needed someone to take a look at her. So she was brought here for 'evaluation pending further determination'."  
  
"How was she on the ride over?" Mame asked as she pulled a penlight from her pocket. Pupil response was normal. Tucking the light away, she took the patient's pulse manually at the left wrist. The woman made no move to resist or to cooperate.  
  
"Non-responsive. Didn't flinch when I bandaged the cut on her face. But she wasn't rigid either. Pulse 140 and BP was 165 over 94 on the first reading, but down to 75 and 110/68 after I popped her in the wagon.  
  
"Down to pulse 68 now," Dr. Suimono observed.  
  
"Mame-chan, is this one of your patients?" a new voice asked from behind her. Dr. Suimono turned to see her husband Dr. Suimono. Polite kisses on cheeks were exchanged.  
  
"Uh, not really dear. But she does look familiar."  
  
A nurse handed a chart to Oebi Suimono. "Then perhaps you should let Doctor Kurumi handle..." he said glancing at the chart, "Nodoka Saotome's case. We don't want to be late for dinner do we?"  
  
"No, we don't," Mame replied absently as her husband took her arm. 'Ranma Saotome, I do believe that is a gotcha,' she thought to herself. 'If you raped that girl, you'll wish you were never born.'  
  
----  
  
Soun found Genma exactly where he said he'd be. It was a bar where you paid by the drink instead of by the hour. Rare enough for Tokyo, even rarer considering his friend's capacity for alcohol.  
  
As he approached the corner booth Genma had staked out, he saw one of the bar's ubiquitous 'come on' girls leave Genma's table. The woman, whose job it was to entice men into buying overpriced appetizers and 'drinks' containing mostly colored water for her, didn't look happy.  
  
There were four bottles of sake on the table. One empty, one from which Genma poured a stiff drink into a small bowl, one Soun cracked open as he sat down and one more for later.  
  
"Are you drunk?" Soun asked his friend.  
  
"Not nearly drunk enough Tendo. Not nearly drunk enough," Genma answered. If he wasn't sober, he was still fairly close to it.  
  
"What did mean when you said your wife tried to kill Ranma?"  
  
"Exactly that. I thought the boy was going to let her do it too. I swear by every drop of sake I've ever drank and ever will drink, that damn sword touched his skin bef-"  
  
"No, no, no. Back up. _What happened?"  
_  
"Where to start, where to start..." Genma muttered as he wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his gi. "Ranma came over to the house this afternoon. He looked all mopy and upset about something, even though he'd unstuck his curse. So I drug him into the backyard for a spar to beat the depression out of him.  
  
"When I'm practicing, Nodoka leaves me alone about getting a job, so I've been practicing a lot lately. The boy is better than I am, I know that, but he was happy that I was just a little bit stronger and a little bit faster than he expected. First real signs of life out of him since he lost that fight to the Hibiki boy last Saturday.  
  
"Then... I'll admit it, I fucked up." Genma poured another bowl of sake and drank it.  
  
"Fucked up how?" In the background a scorned woman was speaking to a bartender.  
  
"After he bounced me off the fence, I engaged the Umi-Sen-Ken, disappeared and stomped him for a bit." In a lower voice, Genma added, "I should have left those damn techniques sealed."  
  
"How did he beat you?" the Tendo patriarch asked knowing that Ranma would have found a way to win. A bartender spoke with a bouncer.  
  
"Flared his aura, and believe me it was full of some nasty shit. The entire yard fills with this yellow haze and next thing I know, the boy is all over me like white on rice. After I wake up, I'm ready for another round, but Nodoka says the boy has something to say. He's all mopy and whiny again but eventually, he tells us how his curse got locked after the fight he had with the Hibiki boy."  
  
"What does that have to do with your wife trying to kill Ranma? If she does that, the families can't be joined," Soun complained before taking a drink of his own. The bouncer, seeing the two men were dressed as martial artists, decided to get the other bouncer and a couple of the bartenders to teach the moron in the white gi not to mess with the hostesses.  
  
Genma reached out and put his hand on the other man's shoulder. "I'm getting to that Soun." Releasing the other man to pour another drink, he added. "The boy said what he had to say and the next thing I know, Nodoka's disowned him, pulled that damn sword off the wall and is waving it around. She tells the boy to get out and then orders me, _orders me_, to throw him out because he's not leaving fast enough."  
  
"What could Ranma have possibly said for Nodoka to do that?" The bartenders carried baseball bats while the bouncers slipped brass knuckles onto their hands.  
  
"Don't take this the wrong way old friend, but I can't tell you. It's not mine to say," Genma said wearily. "But I wave him over to the door because it's a lot easier to let Nodoka have her way than it is to reason with her. I figure I'll catch up with the boy later and let him know that Nodoka doesn't have the authority to kick him out of the clan. She _thinks_ she does, but she don't.  
  
"Then Ranma looks at me and says, and I quote, 'Genma, ya know she's gonna kill you, right?' And for the life of me, I couldn't say that he was wrong." The part-time panda shook a few drops out of his sake bottle and immediately opened the remaining one.  
  
Genma continued, "I mean it was clear to me that Nodoka had finally gone completely nuts. She's always had some problems, I mean what sane woman _would_ accept a seppuku pledge from her own infant son? Hell, I just wanted to train the boy without her butting in, I never _believed_ she'd take it seriously. But when she started carrying that damn sword every time she left the house, it was pretty clear she meant it. We left in a hurry and didn't see her for over ten years after that."  
  
Further conversation was interrupted two punches. Genma received brass knuckles to the jaw. Soun, because he hadn't insulted the woman involved, was struck by a simple fist from a bartender. Both men were accustomed to taking blows from far stronger opponents and pretty much ignored the attack although Soun did state, "Excuse me, my friend and I are having a serious discussion."  
  
This impressed the bouncers and bartenders not at all. The bartender threw another punch, or tried to. Soun casually caught the fist with his right hand, and twisted clockwise as he brought his left hand up to lock the barman's elbow. With the leverage thus obtained, Soun threw him into the wall. He slid to the ground because Genma had already reached down, ripped the bolted table from the floor and used it to block two brass clad fists and a baseball bat.  
  
"Shall we?" Soun asked with a smile.  
  
Looking forward to some stress relief, Genma replied, "I think we shall."  
  
-----  
  
'Alright, now that I know where I am, what ta do about it?' Ranma asked himself as he climbed down the apartment building. 'It's not like I got a home ta go to. Mo... she made it clear I'm not a Saotome anymore. I guess that lets Akane and Ukyo off the hook. They can't be engaged ta someone who don't exist. But I do need ta get my stuff from the Tendos. What little I got.'  
  
Finally having a destination, Ranma set off to the west. He wasn't in any sort of a hurry, so he walked instead of leaping from rooftop to rooftop. It would give him more time to think, something which the last week had showed was more important than he'd ever believed.  
  
'Let's see... Can't stay with the Tendos cause with no engagement, there's no reason for me to be there. Well, no reason to stay there anyway. Ukyo... No. It'd never work. If her dad woulda given her a girl's name, I think both of us would be a helluva lot happier right now. Ku- C'mon, I'm not _that_ desperate. Shampoo... No doubt that she'd just _love_ for her 'airen' ta move in. No doubt Cologne would approve too. Also no doubt that Mousse would blow a gasket. Not that I wouldn't in his place and I owe him one anyway.'  
  
It was full dark when Ranma reached familiar ground by crossing the Sumida River into Taito. Had he been so inclined, he could have been in Nerima in under an hour. Even though he was getting quite hungry, the need to keep placing one foot in front the other gave him a task to focus on.  
  
'I wish Doc Tofu was still around.'  
  
The wish went unanswered. But it did give Ranma an idea. Before the chiropractor had dropped from sight, Ranma had spent enough time in his office to know where the outside keys were hidden. As of that morning, the office with it's attached living quarters were still unoccupied. The market for commercial property in the Furikan section of Nerima wasn't very good. It would do for a couple of days at least. Ranma figured that if he could make enough money doing... something... and contact the right person, maybe he could even stay there legally.  
  
Ranma picked up his pace and nearly ran down Edo Avenue toward Asakusa station.  
  
With some of the little money he'd had left over after paying for his abortion, Ranma bought food from a vending machine plus some medical supplies from a somewhat intimidated drug store clerk. He used one of the immaculate public restrooms that Japan is known for to clean up a bit and properly bandaged his wounds. There was no sign of infection and as long as he didn't reopen the wound, he figured he wouldn't even need stitches.  
  
Feeling and looking much better, Ranma paid the fare to enter Tokyo's excellent subway system. At that time of night, the trains didn't maintain the hectic pace they did during the morning and evening commutes. Still, Ranma didn't have to wait long to hop on the subway at Asakusa and hop off three stops later to change trains for Shinjuku. Another swap there and the Nerima subway station soon came into view. Ranma left the train, left the subway system and the first person he saw, and who saw him, when he stepped out on the street was Nabiki.  
  
A brief moment of mutual shock, Nabiki asked, "Where the hell have you been?"  
  
There were a few ways Ranma could play this considering he was no longer engaged to Akane, was no longer a Saotome and didn't even consider himself a martial artist. Most of which involved Nabiki being unconscious. However, the deeply instilled belief to not hit girls remained. Which was fine by him, he knew a few pressure point combos that would knock her out without hurting her in the least. But then he'd have to carry her to the Tendo compound and Ranma knew he didn't want to do that.  
  
He suddenly realized that Nabiki had been talking to him the entire time he'd been deciding whether or not she was fair game. Which she wasn't. But just barely.  
  
"And did you even think about Akane?" Nabiki finished, unaware that man she'd spent sixty seconds threatening hadn't heard her. Considering what she'd said, that was probably for the best.  
  
-----  
  
Soun Tendo poured a beer over his left knuckles. They were a little sore from excessive use. Next time he got in a bar brawl, he'd kick more often.  
  
Genma brushed off his hands after transforming back to human and counted score. Seven bar employees. Nineteen customers. Six cops, including the one in the power suit. 18 tables, 10 benches, 42 chairs, half the bar, but none of the alcohol behind it and not even a scratch on any woman in the place. Overall, a battle well fought.  
  
"I am shocked, simply shocked that they would allow such behavior in an otherwise exemplary establishment," Soun said mockingly to the survivors, ie: the people who were smart enough to stay out of it.  
  
"Come come old friend," Genma said in a matching voice, "let us seek refreshment away from these ruffians." The two very nearly marched out the back door knowing that there were two police cars and the armored car the power suit came in parked out front. After a few minutes of stealthy rooftop scrambling, the two landed in a small park on the Toshima-Nerima border and laughed their asses off.  
  
Genma said, "Nineteen to thirteen Tendo, and that power suit should count extra. You're getting soft. You need to go on a training trip."  
  
"Perhaps I do at that," Soun replied knowing that he would not make any such trip without being forcibly dragged on it by Happosai. "But as much fun as that little barroom brawl was, we were discussing something important."  
  
The smile faded from Genma's face as if it had never been. "Quite right Tendo. Where was I? Wait, I remember. Nodoka was waving her sword around after 'disowning' my son. The boy was leaving when he stopped in the entryway and put his shoes on. Then he looked back toward his mother and stopped.  
  
"Just stopped. Like he'd turned to stone. After a couple of seconds, the same aura he'd used on me earlier just sort of... leaks out of him. My wife is raving at me to do something, but I'm just as far gone as the boy is because I figure that no matter what happens next, she's going to insist I commit seppuku."  
  
"She's always seemed very keen on the idea of being a kaishaku," Soun admitted.  
  
"Apparently she didn't care if the head came off someone performing seppuku or not. She starts stomping over to where Ranma's standing, winds up like she's holding a baseball bat and takes a swing that would have cut down a tree.  
  
"Like I said earlier, I swear Ranma didn't move until the sword touched his neck. Then he must of broke the sound barrier. His head moved right and he clapped the blade between the palms of his hands despite being at a bad angle for it. All he got was a nick. I've got worse cuts shaving.  
  
"Nodoka tries to pull the damn sword away and slices the boy's hand when she does. That yellow aura... flowed... down the blade and Nodoka got a good dose of whatever it was. She lets go of the sword and drops to the ground. I move forward to check on her, she is my wife after all. The boy grabs the sword by the hilt with his right hand and his left arm disappears because it's moving so fast. There's a noise, I can't even describe it, and the sword shatters. Nodoka got cut by a piece of the shrapnel.  
  
"I don't think the boy even noticed. He just turned with a dead look in his eyes and walked away carrying what was left of the sword. I tried to wake Nodoka up, but couldn't, so I called for an ambulance. Before it and the police got there, I cleaned up as much as I could and dropped a glass on the floor to make it look like an accident."  
  
"Why did you do that?"  
  
"Because I know which way the wind blows Tendo. As much as I love my wife, she's gone too far this time. She put up with a lot from me over the years and I'm grateful. But this... This was too much even for me. First thing Monday morning, I'm filing for a divorce."  
  
Soun was clearly shocked. "Even though-"  
  
Genma raised a hand to silence his friend. "Even though. Ranma is too important to leave him subject to the whims of a madwoman."  
  
-----  
  
Nabiki got more and more nervous as she walked with Ranma toward the Tendo home. She had a finely tuned sense of when she could press someone and when to back off. It was part of the reason that she managed to successfully avoid the many threats to her physical well being that Nerima presented. That sense was screaming 'danger'. Yet she felt if she bolted, that would be worse.  
  
Ranma was being too quiet, not having said ten words in ten minutes. Nabiki didn't like being ignored. He looked through her, not at her. She didn't like feeling insignificant. Ranma wasn't the Ranma she knew and took advantage of. He was something different, something dangerous. He was no ticking bomb that was going to explode and destroy everything. No, he was a gun that was going to be precisely used to take out very specific targets.  
  
And she was taking him to her home in the hope that he'd find there a target other than herself.  
  
After returning home, Nabiki pawned Ranma off on Kasumi as quickly as possible. She walked with a calm facade to her room. Once inside, she very quickly and quietly packed an overnight bag. If Ranma had finally been pushed too far, she had no plans to be anywhere nearby when the fireworks started.  
  
-----  
  
"Oh my," Kasumi said as she watched Ranma devourer the food in front of him. She'd cooked chicken teriyaki with vegetable fried rice for five (six since Ranma counted double) and served only herself. Akane said she wasn't hungry. Nabiki had said she'd be back for dinner but when she returned with Ranma, said she'd already eaten. Her father had left in response to a summons from Genma and not returned. It was nice to know her efforts would not go to waste. Although she did wonder why Genma had specifically asked her to feed Ranma and not to upset him. That was like asking the sun to rise in the east.  
  
Ranma made enthusiastic and appreciative noises as he shoveled food into his mouth. The food was good, but he couldn't spare time for conversation. He knew that eating before talking to Akane would make her mad. He was hungry enough to not care. Every condemned man was entitled to a last meal, this was his.  
  
As his pace slowed from 'feeding frenzy' to 'breakneck' to 'faster than polite' to 'normal for a normal person' and finally to 'nibbling', Ranma wondered where Akane was. She had to know he was home by now. According to Miss Hinako, she'd come straight home after school. Kasumi said she hadn't left, even after Miss Hinako called to say he'd been found.  
  
Thinking back over what he remembered of the day's events, Ranma felt like that morning had been a lifetime ago. In a very important way, it had been. He padded up to his room and loaded his traveling pack. He was surprised that there were things left over, things that he couldn't take. There were also a few things he didn't want. But in under five minutes, he'd triaged his year long stay in Nerima into a single backpack. Only then did he walk down the hall to Akane's door and knock.  
  
-----  
  
End Part 6  
  
-----


	8. False Beliefs

Receiving no response, Ranma knocked again. He was beginning to worry when he heard Akane's yawn precede the comment, "Be there in a second."  
  
The door swung open to reveal a slightly disheveled Akane running fingers through hair that she was letting grow out again. Upon seeing Ranma, her expression changed. It wasn't the anger Ranma was afraid he'd find. Nor was there the happiness he'd hoped for. There was some surprise, which he'd expected, but there was something else. Focus. For once, he had Akane's complete attention without there being anything negative attached.  
  
"Ranma!" she said in a voice neither angry or sad or happy. "Where have you _been_?" Miss Hinako called hours ago."  
  
"Around," Ranma replied. Upon seeing Akane's mouth firm up into a hard line in response, he added, "After Miss Hinako found me, I went ta talk ta... my folks. Then I wandered for a bit and came here." Ranma didn't feel comfortable with the term 'my folks', but without flat out telling Akane he'd been disowned, there weren't any better options.  
  
Akane caught the hesitation and immediately thought Ranma was lying. "Likely story Ranma. You've been gone since before school started," she said accusingly. She noted the pack Ranma wore, but figured it was only a prop. The bandages were harder for her subconscious to explain away.  
  
"Akane, if ya don't want to believe me, that's your problem." Before the youngest Tendo could object, he continued, "I didn't come here for an argument, I came ta say 'goodbye'. Because this is it. I'm leavin' and I don't think I'm ever coming back."  
  
His words reached her. Akane actually heard what Ranma said and knew that he meant it. Something had changed. The growing anger on her face was replaced by surprise. "What? Why?"  
  
"I'll tell ya. But if you think I'm gonna talk about this where Nabiki can listen in, you're out of your mind."  
  
Akane blew out a puff of air in something that vaguely resembled a laugh. "Let me get my coat."  
  
As they prepared to leave, Kasumi asked, "Where are you two going?"  
  
"We're going for a walk," Ranma replied with false casualness. Kasumi gestured at the bulging backpack Ranma carried on his shoulders. "We're going for a walk," Ranma repeated emotionlessly.  
  
She'd been willing to ignore the bandage Ranma had wrapped around his right hand, but the pack indicated something serious was happening. Her unease remained even after Akane added, "Don't worry big sister, we'll be fine."  
  
"Kasumi?" Ranma asked.  
  
To her ears, the young man made her name sound like a complex question of utmost importance. "Yes Ranma?"  
  
"Thanks for everything."  
  
By the time Kasumi realized how final those words sounded, Ranma and Akane had already left.  
  
-----  
  
Ranma had no desire to run into anyone he knew while talking to Akane so he had to decide where to go for their conversation. East was Nerima's Restaurant Row. There were two good reasons not to go that way. West was the Kuno estate. Ditto. It was well into the evening and despite the chill, there were many people who were going out to relieve the stress caused by work, school, family or other sources. Finding the privacy he wanted would not be easy.  
  
More or less by default he walked south at a brisk enough pace to discourage conversation and to keep warm. Crossing into Nakano, they found themselves in a small park that was little more than an oversized bus stop. But it had benches, was well lit and wasn't in Nerima, so it would serve.  
  
"Why?" Akane asked quietly in resumption of their earlier conversation.  
  
"Because things changed today. They changed and they ain't gonna change back and it means I can't stay with ya no more."  
  
"What kind of stupid answer is that?" Akane said hotly.  
  
"It's the only one I got. And if you'd stop and _listen_ for god-damn minute, I'll tell ya why," Ranma answered forcefully enough to reengage Akane's attention. Ten quiet seconds later, he continued, "But first, let me ask ya something. Do you think I intentionally tried to hurt Miss Hinako this morning?" If the answer was 'yes' Ranma knew it would be pointless to go on.  
  
"No, of course not," Akane began. "I know she went home to change clothes and came back to teach the rest of her classes. Then after school, she told me that what happened was an accident. She said she absorbed something from you that... well... 'shouldn't have been there'. I'd say she seemed fine, but I don't think that fits. Better... She seemed better."  
  
Ranma sighed internally. There was hope after all, but he still had much to explain. "After I left school, I went to that bridge over the canal, sat down and... spazzed out for a while."  
  
"That's the third place I told people to look," Akane interjected. 'What's the point of telling people things when they don't listen?' she asked herself, unable or perhaps unwilling to acknowledge how often she did the same.  
  
"Konatsu said he was keepin' people away 'til Miss Hinako could find me first."  
  
"When did Konatsu get into this?"  
  
"I'm gettin' there so relax," Ranma ordered, mildly upset at the continued interruptions. "Me and Miss Hinako talked and when she left, Konatsu came and said his piece and I was left there alone with a choice. Either I could go ta your house or I could go ta my... parents' place... and I chose that."  
  
"Why didn't you come home?"  
  
"Honestly, 'cause I wasn't sure you'd be calmed down by then."  
  
"Ranma! How could you poss-" Akane began as she stood, her face contorting with rage, her voice growing more angry with every syllable.  
  
"Dammit Akane! Knock it off!" Ranma shouted loudly. He drew the attention of everyone in the park and a few people outside it.  
  
Akane's reflexes kicked in. Not having any heavy objects handy, she struck Ranma with an open handed slap. Or tried to. Her arm jerked to a halt in Ranma's iron grip thirty centimeters from his face.  
  
Ranma's voice was cold and precise as he said, "No more. I'm not gonna sit here and get beat on because you don't like an honest answer to a question. I'm sorry I brought you here. I'm sorry I thought we could have one civil conversation before I left. I'm sorry about a lot of things." The young martial artist released Akane's arm, plucked his backpack from the ground and slid it on in a smooth motion.  
  
Akane was too shocked to think coherently. Ranma never blocked her. Never. He either took it squarely or dodged. But as that realization faded, the truth of Ranma's words swept through her. Akane could see the boy... no, the man... she loved slowly walk away. "Ranma?" she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else.  
  
"Ranma," she said louder. She wanted to chase after him, but found herself rooted to the spot.  
  
"Ranma!" The young martial artist continued walking.  
  
"Ranma! Ranma, I'm sorry!" He stopped.  
  
"Ranma, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Akane managed between sobs, tears running down her cheeks. Without knowing how it happened, Akane found herself in an embrace. As he had been for over a year, Ranma was there when Akane needed him most.  
  
After settling down, they returned to the bench. As Akane dried her eyes, Ranma said, "Akane, don't make promises you can't keep. Just say that you'll try."  
  
"Huh?" she grunted in puzzled inquiry.  
  
"Well, when you say, "Ranma, I promise I'll never hit you like that again,' that's my response."  
  
Akane looked up to see a cheesy grin on Ranma's face. As her own smile grew in response, she chuckled and said, "How dare you make me laugh at a time like this."  
  
"Well, I figured I had ta lighten the mood somehow. We were getting a little too... What's the word? Ah... Angsty. Yeah, that's it." Akane shook her head in response, but her attention was fully engaged when Ranma continued, "But I'm dead serious about what I said. The old me was different, but the new me ain't takin' crap from nobody."  
  
"What do you mean, 'new you'?"  
  
"I'll get back to that one, but you got to hear the rest of it first." Ranma sighed heavily before beginning his tale. "I went ta my folks place in Adachi. Sparred with dad and... well that ain't important. But I went there to tell them how my cursed got locked last Saturday."  
  
"How _did_ that happen anyway? You never said. All I know is you had another challenge from Ryoga."  
  
Ranma braced himself against an expected outburst. "Akane, don't take this the wrong way. But you don't need ta know, I'm not gonna tell ya and you'd never believe me if I did. I didn't believe it either and I was there," he stated.  
  
"Now I'm curious." There was no outburst, something for which Ranma was grateful.  
  
"Akane, please trust me on this one. Let. It. Go." The last part was emphasized in a manner that indicated that further questions on the subject would lead to his immediate departure.  
  
"All right," she said willing, for the moment at least, not to question the specifics.  
  
"The important thing is that I told my folks and Nodoka disowned me on the spot."  
  
"What?" Akane nearly shouted. Auntie Saotome had done so much for her in her quest to learn how to cook. Ranma's mother had come to accept her son despite his curse. It made no sense. "Why would she..." The question trailed off into nothingness.  
  
Ranma threw up his hands, one bandaged, one not. "Don't know, don't care anymore. But it changes everything. You're not my fiancee now. The engagement was between a Tendo and a Saotome and I'm not a Saotome anymore. You're off the hook. Heck, Ukyo's off the hook too. I don't know when I'll have a chance to tell her, but..."  
  
"Ranma," Akane interrupted, "I... I don't want to be 'off the hook'."  
  
Contentment glowed in Ranma's eyes. "Thanks for sayin' that. It means a lot ta me. And after both of us are eighteen, maybe it won't matter. But right now, it means I can't stay with ya anymore."  
  
"I'm sure Dad... will..." Doubt crossed Akane's mind and features as she ground to a halt. "Actually, I'm not sure what Dad would do. He and Genma, they've been friends an awful long time." Silence reigned for a brief moment until Akane asked, "Is that when your hand got cut? After you told your parents?"  
  
Ranma turned his hand palm up and looked at it as if it didn't belong on the end of his arm. "I think so."  
  
"You think so?" Akane asked rhetorically.  
  
"I'm not sure what happened. Mo- Nodoka disowned me and told Genma to throw me out. He just sort of waved me toward the door and I remember thinking that because I wasn't a Saotome, she could order Genma to commit Seppuku for failing to raise me as a 'man among men'. I mean, it's obvious I'm not manly enough if I've been disowned."  
  
"That's not true," Akane put in. Whether it was a denial about the state of Ranma's manliness, or a statement of disbelief about Nodoka enforcing the contract that had separated mother from son for ten years, Ranma didn't know.  
  
"Don't forget we're talking about Nodoka, not a normal person," Ranma said harshly.  
  
Her eyes widened in shock. "How can you say that about your mother?"  
  
Actual anger seeped into Ranma's voice. "Now that she's no longer my mother, pretty damned easily."  
  
Akane, who missed her own mother dearly, couldn't believe what she heard. Until she thought about it. Certain of Nodoka's beliefs about manliness, such as her stand on peeping, were disturbing when looked at in a different light. She would have to think more about it later, there were other things that demanded her immediate attention. "So what happened?"  
  
Ranma took two deep breaths as he tried to figure out how to tell Akane what took place. Eventually, he realized the simplest way would be the best. "I told him. I said, 'Genma, ya know she's gonna kill you.' Weirdest thing though, I think he already knew."  
  
Akane said nothing. Ranma had built up to his statement slowly enough that she could get her mind around it. Given what she knew of Nodoka Saotome, given that she had indeed disowned Ranma, the possibility that she would enforce the suicide pledge on her husband was conceivable. Monstrous, unconscionable, ghastly, even evil, but still, it was conceivable.  
  
"After that," Ranma said, "it was almost like I'd gone into the Neko-ken. My body moved, but I can't remember what happened." He chose not to disturb Akane with his torture chamber visions. "All I know is I was really, really angry and then, I'm in Katsushika with a cut on my hand and this nick right here." Ranma pointed out the scratch with his unbandaged hand.  
  
"You blacked out?" There was worry in her voice. Oddly enough, that comforted Ranma.  
  
"Maybe, I ain't sure." Ranma turned to look his ex-fiancee right in the eyes. "I asked you this once, and I don't remember the answer. 'Don't you get tired of being angry all the time?'"  
  
"Ranma, I'm not... I don't think I'm like that any more. Am I?"  
  
Ranma closed his eyes so as not to notice any potential retaliation. "Not all the time, just way too often." Nothing happened so he continued, "But I've got a reason ta ask. I've got all this anger in me right now and it's not doing me a damn bit of good." He lifted his right hand slightly and a pale glow formed around it. Negative emotions so intense that they had physical form, so intense that they could be used as a weapon, were held in check only by Ranma's will. "How do you handle it? How do you go from being one of the nicest girls I've ever met to bashing me upside the head with whatever's handy and back so fast? Cause I think it's driving me crazy."  
  
Akane could feel the emotions radiating from the young man next to her. She knew what her own anger felt like. It was a burning fire that consumed her reason and was best doused by hitting something or someone. Not someone, Ranma, she realized. But there was more in that yellow glow than anger.  
  
Akane searched her soul for an honest answer. "Ranma, when I get mad, I get rid of my anger as fast as I can. Because when I hold it in, it eats me up inside, just like it's doing to you. But why are you so mad over losing a fight? I thought you and Ryoga had settled things between you back in China."  
  
"Hell, so did I." Ranma's aura brightened at the mention of Ryoga's name until he focused enough to banish the eerie glow entirely.  
  
"Then why... Nevermind, you said you wouldn't tell me."  
  
"I got my reasons."  
  
Silence settled in around the pair. Neither wanted to leave, but neither wished to speak. Akane didn't want to drive Ranma away. She'd come too close to doing that already. Ranma didn't want to upset Akane further. Whether she believed him or not, bringing up the rape would certainly cause problems. So they sat together in silence as the world went by, unasked questions, with and without answers, filling the air.  
  
"I'm cold," Akane eventually said.  
  
Ranma felt the chill himself. "It's gettin' late. You should go home." He stood and slung his pack on his shoulders before reaching out to give his once and just possibly future fiancee a hand.  
  
"At least I've got a home," Akane said as she stood. "What are you going to do?" she asked. She knew Ranma was too stubborn to return to the dojo with her.  
  
"I got some plans and I been out in worse weather than this lotsa times. I'll be fine. Trust me."  
  
Because she knew she had no choice, Akane resolved to do just that on her long and lonely walk back to Nerima.  
  
"I'm home!" she called as she hit the entryway and reached for her house slippers. Upon recognizing the presence of Genma's ratty sandals, her blood began to boil. She barely finished exchanging footwear when she saw Ranma's father approach her. In her mind, this was very good because it would save her from having to search the bastard out. She never noticed her father and oldest sister, or the worried looks on their faces, behind the part-time panda.  
  
"Akane, where is my son?" Genma asked. In a calmer state, she'd have heard the worry in his voice. But her anger had already run away with her.  
  
"Son?! You don't have a son you..." Because she couldn't think of a word vile enough, Akane swung at Genma instead. Nailed him square in the solar plexus too.  
  
By the time Genma regained consciousness and things were explained, it was too late.  
  
-----  
  
End Part 7  
  
-----


	9. Interlude: Amazons

Interlude: Amazons  
  
Seventy two hours. It was amazing the changes life could bring in such a short time. Three days earlier, Shampoo had wondered why she was in Hiroshima instead of Nerima. Why she was waiting for a hunting party to arrive from her village. Why she couldn't be beside the man she considered her husband.  
  
Now she knew and innocence lost could never be regained.  
  
Cologne herself had come to the hotel room where Shampoo was staying two nights ago. Her grandmother had explained what had happened to Ranma. Shampoo wondered why she hadn't figured it out on her own. She knew that a Jusenkyo curse could be locked by a pregnancy, but she'd never thought of that possibility in connection to Ranma. Or Ryoga.  
  
Her first intention, after the shock wore off, was to kill Ryoga herself. But this faded when she realized that Ryoga's life was in Ranma's hands, not her own. He had been the one sinned against, not her. Had she ever consummated her marriage with Ranma, then she would have been within her rights to do pretty much as she pleased about the situation. But that had never happened so she was stuck with what was instead of what might have been.  
  
'What was' sucked. But what Cologne expected from the hunting party was even worse. Shampoo's great-grandmother wanted to save the Hibiki genetic line by having an Amazon, one of her tribal sisters, possibly even one of her and Cologne's own blood relatives, bear Ryoga Hibiki's child. The child of a known rapist. It was... not quite insane. It was a cold calculated step in a genetic breeding scheme that extended back millennia.  
  
Joketzu doctrine was meant to bring in strong males in order to have strong babies. (The fact that strong females were slain instead of brought into the tribe was another story entirely.) Ryoga was a strong male, no question about it. Only a strong male could survive training in the Bakusai Tenketsu. Only a strong male could even briefly hold his own in a fight with her husband, let alone defeat him, even by trickery.  
  
But for her great-grandmother to ask what she had asked troubled Shampoo. They were to find Ryoga and inform Cologne via the satellite phones that she had provided. That made sense. Cologne would tell Ranma Ryoga's location and step aside as her husband took whatever revenge he chose. Understandable. But between those two steps, someone was expected to... seduce... for lack of a better term, Ryoga Hibiki. Unreal.  
  
At first Shampoo had objected because if Ryoga defeated an Amazon and then consummated the marriage, Ryoga would come under the full protection of Joketzu law. Which meant that an outsider, even the man who was technically her husband, could be slain for killing him, no matter what he'd done previously. Vendetta was a recognized legal defense among her people.  
  
Cologne had waved aside her concerns claiming that once Shampoo explained things, no one involved would seek a vendetta against Ranma after it was all over. Shampoo thought about it and realized her great-grandmother could be right. At least where the six people in the hunting party were concerned. But then Cologne had said something that truly shocked Shampoo. She'd said that if one of the Amazon maidens could become pregnant by Ryoga outside of marriage, it was perfectly fine by her.  
  
Did the honor and virtue of an Amazon maiden mean nothing? An outsider's honor could be discounted in most cases, but an Amazon's honor? Could it be so casually bartered away by an Elder? Duty to the tribe was expected. Failure of that duty had led to her Jusenkyo curse after all. ('Why couldn't it have been anything but cat?' she thought.) But duty to one's self could not be ignored. Did her grandmother honestly expect the hunting party to do as she asked?  
  
The answer to that question was 'Yes'. If there were no volunteers, someone would be chosen by lot. The Law permitted such selection in time of need. Shampoo did not believe the need could possibly be that great, but kept her opinion to herself. To her, the Joketzu did not need a rapist's genes, no matter what other qualities he possessed.  
  
After Cologne had left the mission in her hands, Shampoo came to a decision. If there were no volunteers, if none of her tribal sisters wanted anything to do with Ryoga, she would send them home after he was found. No one's virtue would be destroyed by chance, she would not allow it. With the damage her own reputation had suffered since she'd first met Ranma, Shampoo didn't care if it suffered more, even unto exile or death.  
  
-----  
  
Somehow, the concept that some of the tactics the Joketzu used on reluctant husbands could be considered rape never crossed Shampoo's mind. Rape was something that other people did. Mousse knew better. Cologne knew better but didn't much care. There's something to be said for ignorance, but it ain't good.  
  
-----  
  
The phone rang as Shampoo stepped from the shower. Before answering, she carefully placed her bar of waterproof soap into its special container. She couldn't afford the type of water related accidents that routinely troubled the Jusenkyo cursed. Her stock was low enough with her fellow Amazons, becoming a cat with a splash of cold water would only lead to disaster.  
  
On the fourth ring, she picked up the receiver and said, "Moshi Moshi."  
  
In return, she got an earful of her native Chinese dialect that was most welcome. "Cousin Xian Pu, we have arrived and are waiting at a pay phone at the end of Pier 6."  
  
"I'll be there as soon as possible Zho Pu," Shampoo answered in the same language.  
  
"Make it quick," Soap requested. "Su Xie already clobbered a drunken sailor that grabbed her ass."  
  
Shampoo smiled for the first time in two days. "I would expect nothing less from Susie or any other warrior of the Joketzu. But do not kill any obstacles that you can simply render unconscious." Shampoo hung up before her cousin could respond. As much as she wanted to catch up on family gossip, there were more important things to do.  
  
Shampoo finished dressing, wound her hair into its accustomed style, grabbed both bonbori with her right hand and an umbrella with her left. It was lightly raining and 'waterproof' was a relative, not an absolute term.  
  
Had the weather been dry, she would have roofhopped most of the way to her destination. But the rain made things slick enough to make taking the high road unwise. Still, she made good time on the streets of Hiroshima. Ignoring the wolf whistles and obscene comments as a matter of routine, Shampoo only had to kick one man in the groin for attempting to grope her before she arrived at Pier 6.  
  
One: twin maces, distinct family resemblance, Zho Pu, check. Two: long axe, pretty face, Su Xie, check. Three: morningstar-spear, boatload of ugly, Sihong Goa, check (under protest). Four: sword, throwing knives, a whetstone called 'Sheng', Jiao Lu, check. Five: composite bow, quiver of arrows, silly whip she's been carrying ever since she saw 'Temple of Doom', Keyo Cao, check. Six:... "Where is Jujie Fu?" Shampoo asked upon seeing that one member of the hunting party was missing.  
  
"Still on her honeymoon I'd guess," Keyo Cao answered with a smile.  
  
Had she had a hand free, Shampoo would have rubbed her temple to fight off the incipient headache. "Cocoa, please tell me your joking."  
  
"No joke," the dark haired Amazon replied while obsessively adjusting the fedora she wore. "She picked a fight with this sorta cute baggage handler on the train out of Xining. Lost after he jammed her up with this nifty little wrist lock and she tried to headbutt him to break free." She bobbed her head forward in simulation before continuing, "Knocked herself out instead and after she woke up, gave the guy the Kiss of Marriage. Turns out he's from the same village that creep Pantyhose Taro is from so he knew about the Joketzu marriage law and seemed perfectly happy with it. Bet you there's a little Amazon within the year."  
  
"She was weak," Sihong Gao, the largest and ugliest member of the hunting party said as she casually waved her two ended weapon around. "As are you, failure."  
  
'And let the dominance games begin,' Shampoo thought bitterly to herself. The following fight was nasty, brutal and short. Directing her fellow Amazons to carry their tribal sister, she led the hunting party toward her hotel room and enlightenment.  
  
-----  
  
Meanwhile and far away, Mousse quartered the sky above Yaizu in his own search for Ryoga. While the 'lost boy' tended to be lost much of the time, there were places where he did show up on a semi-regular basis. At least initially, the search would be concentrated there. Nerima topped the list, but Cologne was covering that herself. The Unryu farm was next and the hunting party would search that area at the first opportunity. Since Ryoga (theoretically) lived in Yaizu, at least when he could find the place, Mousse had been assigned to search there.  
  
If he found Ryoga, he was to immediately call Cologne. Not Ranma. This troubled him as any revenge was clearly Ranma's to take and there was no need for Cologne's involvement. The old monkey was clearly up to something. That it would be unpleasant was a given. Since he believed that Ranma didn't need jerked around any more than he already had been, Mousse decided to tack on the word 'first' to the end of 'immediately call Cologne'.  
  
Passing over the Hibiki residence again, he noticed no changes. The only inhabitants were some rather friendly black and white dogs that had somehow managed to master the use of a can opener. Noticing a storm front approaching from the west, Mousse turned for home and sang to himself, "Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide."  
  
-----  
  
End Interlude: Amazons  
  
-----


	10. Chance Meetings

After tailing Akane long enough to be sure she headed home, Ranma set off for Doctor Tofu's office. The "For Sale or Lease" sign with its contact names and phone numbers was clearly visible in the light provided by a street lamp. After making sure he would be unobserved, Ranma slipped into the small fenced in area next to the front door. Crouched out of sight, he counted three up, four over and pulled the loose tile from the ground. Nothing but dirt.  
  
'Damn it,' Ranma thought as he replaced the bit of stonework. 'I shoulda known Doc wouldn'ta left a key here if he was plannin' to sell the place. I bet the realtor's got it.' Further berating himself, he added, 'It was a stupid idea anyway. The minute I turned the lights on, somebody woulda noticed and maybe even called the cops.'  
  
Quickly leaving the area, Ranma realized that despite coming up with Plan 'A', he hadn't thought up a Plan 'B' just in case Plan 'A' failed. He knew he didn't have enough money for even a cheap hotel room. He might have enough for a youth hostel, something that Hiroshi had described to him once. Unfortunately, he didn't know where in Tokyo one might be. Ranma pretty much had resigned himself to sleeping outdoors despite the unseasonable chill and threat of rain. As he'd told Akane, he'd camped out in worse weather.  
  
While looking for a good spot to pitch his tent, Ranma realized that once he got through the night, he would still have the same problem the next day. Money, or more specifically, the lack of it. The loan from Cologne was nearly gone and he would at some point have to pay it back. There was no way he'd run out on the debt because that was something that Genma might do.  
  
Growing up, Ranma never handled money except for coins he found in the street. On the few occasions when money was exchanged for something, his father... former father... always took care of it. When he was nine, Ranma found a wallet with twelve thousand yen in it and was amazed when Genma threw it into the nearest mailbox without emptying it first. He'd said something about money not being important to a true martial artist. It was one of the few times he'd been proud of the man after the Cat Fist training.  
  
Looking back, Ranma admitted to himself that Genma had been relatively flush at the time. They hadn't been flat broke the entire ten year training journey after all. So where had the money come from? There had been a pattern, what was it?  
  
A rumble of thunder in the distance snapped Ranma's attention back to the most pressing of his problems. A good campsite was something that required careful consideration. The right choice meant waking up dry in the morning and the wrong choice, which could be just a meter away, would leave him soaked and female. That last point merited more notice than it would have a week earlier.  
  
Finding a decent looking spot, Ranma made camp and slid into his tent ahead of the first raindrops. After a brief downpour, Ranma found that he'd chose correctly. Satisfied that the rain would be no problem, he returned to thoughts of money.  
  
Where had Genma gotten his money? Theft seemed a strong possibility at first. He'd certainly stolen enough stuff at Happosai's direction, not to mention stealing Ukyo's dowry. But the raw effectiveness of the Yama-Sen-Ken and the Umi-Sen-Ken gave the young man pause. With those skills, Genma could easily steal anything he wanted. They were simply that good.  
  
But the old man hadn't used them. Until the fight with Ryu Kumon, those techniques had been sealed. 'As far as I know', Ranma thought cynically. After further consideration, Ranma dismissed his doubts. There had simply been too many opportunities for Genma to have used those techniques for his own benefit. The seal on them had been sincere.  
  
What could (or would) Genma do to earn money? He'd been Doc Tofu's assistant until the Doc had disappeared during the Moxibustion Weakness incident. So it wasn't like his ex-father was _completely_ unwilling to work.  
  
Ranma figured the old man had actually earned much of what little money they'd had. But how? Other than menial labor, what use could someone get out of Genma? The only things he was good for were eating, sleeping and martial arts.  
  
Ranma realized his own skill set was pretty much limited to those three areas and it bothered him. Once things were settled, that would have to change. But short term, he needed money more than he needed additional skills. But how to get it?  
  
Rain rattled down on his tent as Ranma considered and discarded possibilities. He would not use the Yama-Sen-Ken or Umi-Sen-Ken to steal. Stealing at all was out of the question. He was too proud to beg. He would earn his money even if he had to resort to waitressing.  
  
The answer came to Ranma with perfect clarity and absolute conviction. The key wasn't martial arts, it was fighting. Mere fighting. No questions of honor, no worries about 'fighting fair', not even a reason other than to earn some cash. Just fight and get paid for it. Whether or not his former father had earned money that way was irrelevant.  
  
The more he thought about it, the more Ranma liked the idea. The practice would be nice and it would certainly be easy enough. Even finding a fight wouldn't be too difficult. Ranma figured he'd go to the nearest seaport and follow the first group of drunken sailors he found. A fight, planned or not, would be inevitable. A paying fight might be tougher to locate, but not impossible.  
  
Sure that the immediate future was taken care of, Ranma fell asleep to the drumming of raindrops on his tent.  
  
-----  
  
Sunday morning dawned clear and cold. The sun shone brightly as if to make up for the previous night's storm. Ranma awoke refreshed and still male, if slightly chilled. For a brief moment, he was at peace. Then he remembered the reason he was sleeping in a tent instead of the Tendo home. Shunting his negative emotions aside took only a brief focusing of his will.  
  
Ranma quickly broke camp and began walking south. A stop for breakfast left him with a little over seventeen hundred yen. Realizing that might be a cheap lunch and dinner if he ate in restaurants, Ranma stopped at an open-air market and converted his remaining cash into a few days worth of supplies. He knew Kasumi would have made better deals than he managed, but didn't feel cheated.  
  
As he walked, the idea of using his girl form to scam gullible guys into buying food for him crossed his mind, turned his stomach and crossed right back out. Cutting through the East Komaba campus of Tokyo University, the idea came to him again. While wrestling with it, Ranma got whapped upside the head by an errant Frisbee®.  
  
"Sorry!" an overweight young man called from a good twenty meters away. Ranma picked the piece of stray plastic off the ground and negligently flicked it back to its owner. The disc floated gently into the man's hands without him needing to reach for it.  
  
Intending to put the incident behind him, Ranma looked around to regain his bearings. The sheer number of flying discs, boomerangs, Frisbees, CD's and other flat tossable objects were impossible to ignore. Obviously, something was up. Ranma briefly thought about stopping to investigate and reluctantly decided to press on. While interesting, it wasn't helpful. Ranma continued walking south.  
  
"Is this thing on?" an amplified voice said from across the rugby field before continuing, "Why yes! Yes it is! Good afternoon ladies, gentlemen and disc golfers of all ages! This is Jun Junnosuke, along with my partner Eimi Aoki, coming to you live from the rugby field on the East Komaba campus of Tokyo University for Q-Rock's Second Annual Disc Golf Challenge!"  
  
"And a lovely day it is Jun. The sun is shining, there's not a cloud in the sky and there's just enough wind to make it interesting for all the disc golfers here for the Challenge!"  
  
As the two announcers continued their professional patter, Ranma smirked in spite of himself. He knew what a challenge was and it didn't involve tossing a piece of plastic from Point A to Point B. His thoughts began to wander. 'Prince Herb? That was a challenge. Ryu Kumon? A challenge. Saffron?' Ranma's mind seized momentarily. Saffron had been something beyond a challenge. He didn't have words to properly describe what the fight with Saffron had been, had meant, to him.  
  
"...and with almost two million yen in cash and prizes up for grabs, we're bound to have _lots_ of Q-Rock fun!" the male half of the announce team said excitedly.  
  
Ranma snapped his head around at a speed that would have given a lesser man whiplash. His full and undivided attention was directed toward the stage that had been set up between the rugby field and the school track.  
  
"But let's not forget our sponsors. Q-Rock's Second Annual..."  
  
-----  
  
Ranma stood with a few hundred others along the baseball field's warning track. Women congregated near the foul poles while the men stretched between the power alleys. Each had a disk with their name written on the underside, the men's blue, the women's pink, emblazoned with Q-Rock's emblem and call sign. The target was a pole, strung with chains and holding up a large basket, sitting on home plate. The ten closest men and women to the pin would be entered in the tournament. Anyone landing in the basket would receive a free set of golf discs from Kobiyashi's Sporting Goods.  
  
Ranma hoped the twenty minutes practice time he'd had would be enough. He not only needed to be one of the closest to the pin, he needed to nail the shot so that he'd have competition legal discs to golf with.  
  
Eimi Aoki counted down, "Three... Two... One... THROW!"  
  
Ranma whipped his disc downrange and was over the center field fence before it went 20 meters. Splashing himself with cold water he'd left there in advance, he raced toward the right field foul pole. Jumping back over the fence, his pink disc joined the assault on the target just as his first throw clanged off the top of the target pole and ricocheted away.  
  
'Hope that wasn't mine', he thought as he watched the second disk's flight. A graceful arc, it was dead on target all the way until it collided with another disc at the last instant. Ranma's heart skipped a beat as his throw got knocked into the front of the basket to join two others and the interfering blue disc sailed off for parts unknown.  
  
Success. Perhaps a little less than honestly obtained considering he'd taken two attempts, but success none the less. That maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to fight anyone for money, that he wouldn't have to pervert his Art, was far more important than the twinge of guilt he felt.  
  
When the radio announcers called out the names of the ten closest men, Ranma's wasn't on the list. Disappointment crossed his then female features as the prize money in the men's tournament was twice that of the women's tourney. It would also mean spending a few hours female, something he would rather have avoided.  
  
Necessity won out over convenience. When 'Ranko Tendo' was called, Ranma set aside his mixed feelings and walked calmly toward home plate. His emotional control was good enough that he only dislocated three fingers on the hand that tried to grope his ass instead of grinding the offending member into bloody pulp.  
  
-----  
  
As the sun headed for the horizon, Ranma counted his winnings. Between incredible amounts of raw skill and a nearly vertical learning curve, he joined the tie for third with his last shot and won 26,000 yen. His win of the throw, run and catch competition earned another 5,000 and dinner for two at Skylark's. The hole in one toss from the roof of the library to the entrance of the math building was worth two tickets behind home plate for a Giants game. Ranma wasn't a baseball fan, but he figured those who were might pay a decent price for them.  
  
Overall, it was a good day. He'd almost managed to forget why he needed the money in the first place.  
  
-----  
  
On his way to Yaizu, Mousse spotted a petite redhead carrying a large pack. Since he knew only one person who fit that description, he stopped flapping his wings and glided downward. He'd heard conflicting reports on recent events in Nerima and wanted a few facts from the 'wild horse's mouth' as it were.  
  
Acknowledging Mousse's existence, Ranma walked a few paces from the edge of the road and quickly put a kettle over a small fire. While waiting for the water to heat, Mousse observed his rival. In his opinion, Ranma was far too calm and collected for someone on a mission of vengeance.  
  
The water turned out slightly hotter than necessary when Ranma poured it. "Geeze Saotome, you del-" Mousse began angrily.  
  
"Don't call me that," Ranma interjected forcefully as he poured the remaining water onto his own head.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"My so called parents disowned me when I told them what happened. That's why I left the Tendos. There is no Ranma Saotome. Just... Ranma." He hung his head and sighed heavily. The sooner he adjusted to his status as ronin, the better.  
  
Mousse rubbed his temples. Apparently, he was the first person from Nerima to catch up with Ranma. He would much rather not have been. There was no telling how Ranma would react to the news. "Sao- Ranma. Do me a favor. Shut up and listen for thirty seconds while I tell you what the hell's happened the last two days." Ranma bridled, anger clearly visible on his face and in his aura. He opened his mouth to speak, suddenly shut it, and motioned for Mousse to continue. "You're still a Saotome. Your mother isn't head of your clan, so she didn't _have_ the authority to disown you."  
  
Ranma's head jerked up and he locked eyes with the young man before him. He desperately wanted to believe. It would make his life much easier if what Mousse said was true. It wouldn't change the past, but the future, the future as he wanted it to be, would become just a little more possible.  
  
His natural pessimism kicked in. The scene at his parent's house, both the real and the imagined, ran past his mind's eye. How could that have led to Mousse's statement? Ranma's aura echoed his confused emotional state before fading away. "Then why..." Ranma began before trailing off. Understanding could come later, Mousse clearly had more to say. "What else?" he asked.  
  
"According to what I heard, your father filed for a divorce first thing this morning on grounds of mental instability. Oh, and Nabiki is missing. No one's seen her since Saturday night."  
  
-----  
  
End Part 8  
  
-----  
  
Author's notes: Sorry about the ridiculously long delay on this. I received an e-mail that took me to task for not going into graphic detail about the rape this story is predicated on. It took about three weeks to stop seeing red. After I calmed down enough to write, I found I'd lost my groove.  
  
With me, once the writing groove is gone, it takes a long time to get it back. To be honest, it isn't all the way back yet, so don't be surprised if it's quite a wait before I put anything else out. (And don't be surprised if it's something other than a chapter of this story.) But let me say that this story hasn't been abandoned and it will be completed eventually. I ask for your patience.


	11. Pigs Is Pigs

"Ooof!" Mousse grunted as he bounced off the tree Ranma punched him into. Ranma wasn't using full force, the century old oak still stood. Mousse wasn't using full force either, the clearing in which they fought still resembled a campsite and not a war zone.

Standing ten meters away, Ranma taunted his opponent. "Ya left yourself wide open. Even with your eyes, ya shoulda seen that one coming."

Mousse moved left, slipping several short lengths of chain from his sleeve as he did so. Since it was a 'light' spar, there were no blades attached to the ends. As Ranma bored in, Mousse let fly with four chains and held the last two in reserve. Ranma dodged the first two with little effort, but avoiding the third set him up perfectly as the fourth struck his chest dead center with sufficient force to knock Ranma off his feet. "By the rules we agreed to, I believe that counts as a point."

A brief frown crossed Ranma's face before vanishing. The score stood four to three but had been three-zip in his favor. Mousse had seemingly found an exploitable hole and Ranma hadn't quite figured out what it was. As Ranma regained his feet, Mousse gathered the chains and other weapons he'd used in the encounter. Returning to the ready position, the sparring continued.

The male Amazon swung his blunted spear at neck height. Ranma ducked under the attack and launched a double punch. Mousse partially blocked the blow with his right arm, but lost his spear in the process. With his opponent temporarily disarmed, Ranma picked up the pace of his attacks. Mousse defended ably for thirty seconds, but Ranma poured on the speed and the part time duck gave ground. As the blocks became more and more desperate, Ranma went even faster. Mousse leapt backwards to gain breathing room, but Ranma had herded him so that his jump was straight into a large maple. Ranma's right hand blurred forward and stopped millimeters from Mousse's unprotected throat. "Match point?"

"Yeah, that's a 'gotcha'," Mousse agreed.

Pulling Mousse to his feet, the two returned to where Ranma had pitched his tent. "If you'd have been using chi techniques, you would've made mincemeat out of me and we both know it," Mousse said with memories of the battle against Saffron running through his head.

"That ain't what this was about and I'm tired of wreckin' things just because I can."

"It's never bothered you before."

"Maybe I'm growing up," Ranma replied quietly before asking, "What'd I do wrong?"

Mousse paused to clean his glasses. "If I still considered you a rival for Shampoo, I wouldn't say a word, but since you've made it clear that you want to marry Akane, I'll tell you. Your big thing is being unpredictable. Your attacks have like _no_ rhythm and you never dodge the same way twice."

"Yeah, so?"

"So there are only so many ways to dodge. Since I know you won't repeat yourself, I can concentrate on paths you haven't used yet."

Ranma's eyes glazed over as he thought through Mousse's statement. "Sonuvabitch," he murmured. "I'm predictably unpredictable. Huh... Gonna havta work on that."

Mousse linked his fingers and stretched his arms over his head. "Well, I am pretty good at this stuff," he said breezily.

Puffy white clouds blocked the sun as they gathered deadwood for Ranma's campfire. Discussing Mousse's news over a late lunch of instant noodles, the two made a few observations. If Genma divorced Nodoka, fine. Ranma wanted nothing more to do with the woman. She'd had her chance at motherhood and blown it completely.

Nabiki's absence was a mixed question. If she had indeed disappeared, it might be a positive thing. No doubt her family was worried sick, but Ranma was certain the rest of Nerima was breathing a sigh of relief. Since she had packed, she'd left by choice and not force. But it was odd to think of Nabiki as running from anything. Ranma knew she had an almost magical ability to avoid consequences for her actions. Occasionally, Ranma acknowledged, by putting him in between herself and those consequences.

Mousse pointed out the only person that Ranma couldn't protect Nabiki from was Ranma. He agreed, but figured there was more to the situation. He'd been absent from the Tendo's before, but when he'd left Saturday night, it was without the intention of returning. Someone Nabiki had pissed off might have seen that as an opportunity for revenge.

Ranma didn't see himself as someone wanting revenge against Nabiki. Mousse did, but preferred not to give his vengeance minded companion any ideas. So after finishing his noodles, Mousse asked, "Since Ryoga's house turned out to be a bust, where are you planning on going next?"

The Hibiki home had indeed been a bust. No sign of Ryoga or his parents and the normally friendly Checkers had raised her hackles and growled at the mere scent of Ranma. Rather than challenge the dog, Ranma merely turned and left Yaizu via the road to Kakegewa.

"I was gonna try Akari's place next. If he ain't there, there's a little village near the south end of Honshu he goes through every so often. When he gets there, he knows he's missed Tokyo and needs ta head north."

"That's gotta be a good six or seven hundred kilometers southwest... Nevermind, I forgot who we were talking about."

Ranma snorted in lieu of laughter. "You'd better splash yourself and take off if you want to get back to Nerima before dark. And don't forget to ask Kasumi about what's goin' on. I may owe Cologne a hundred thousand yen and some favors, but that don't mean I'm dumb enough ta trust her."

Mousse opened his mouth to reply, thought better of it, and said, "I will, but unless you plan to wait here until I get back, how am I supposed to find you tomorrow?"

"Damn, you're right. Let me think..." Ranma pulled a map from his pack. "There's a buncha different ways to get to Akari's farm from here, but most of them go through... there. Gero Spa. I don't know if I'll get there tomorrow, or in five days, but I'll camp there before I go see Akari."

"Tomorrow?" Mousse asked. He tried to sound incredulous and hoped he succeeded. Shampoo and her hunting team were supposed to arrive at Gero Spa by nightfall. They too chose it as a convenient stopping point before searching the Unryu farm area.

"If I hop a bullet train to Nagoya, and get lucky with Japan Rail, I can do it," Ranma replied confidently. "If I gotta hoof it the whole way, I can still make it in five days."

"If you say so." Before Ranma could comment further, Mousse splashed himself with a tin cup of water set aside for that purpose earlier. After taking a moment to use his hidden weapons technique on his clothes, Mousse soon flew out of sight.

Afterwards, Ranma rubbed his chin in thought. If he wanted to make Gero Spa the next day, it would be much easier if he started from Nagoya in the morning as opposed to his current campsite. Thought led immediately to action as Ranma quickly broke camp. After making certain his campfire was completely out, Ranma began a kilometer eating jog toward Kakegawa. Even he wouldn't try to hop onto a moving bullet train. But while the train was at the station, it was a whole different story.

-----

Nabiki nervously wandered around Niigata, trying to get a feel for the place. Close enough to Nerima to return within hours, far enough away that no one would ever look for her there and large enough to be safely anonymous. That was the theory.

Reality, in the form of Ryoga Hibiki, proved otherwise. She'd turned a corner and there he was, two paces away and looking straight at her. She froze.

"Nabiki?" Ryoga said in confusion. He wasn't quite sure where he was, but he knew it wasn't Nerima or even Tokyo. But it was definitely the middle Tendo daughter standing in front of him. She looked... scared. Surprised as well, but more scared than anything. Which was unusual because he'd never seen Nabiki as other than calm, cool and collected. He found the idea of a scared Nabiki unsettling.

In response to the worried look on Ryoga's face, Nabiki relaxed. Ryoga, she could deal with. Ranma might have learned something in the past year, but the sappy ineptitude of the befanged young man in front of her was something that she could rely on. Finding out what he'd done to lock Ranma's curse was a mere question away. Or at least it would be once she led up to it properly.

"What are you doing here?" Ryoga finally asked.

Nabiki lied out of reflex, "Just scouting the local colleges. I don't want to stay in Nerima after I finish high school." It sounded plausible and from his expression, she could tell that Ryoga believed her. "What are _you_ doing here?" she asked in return. "Lost again?"

Ryoga ignored the subtle dig, learning Ranma's status was more important. "Not really. If I don't care where I am, how can I be lost?" Unlike Nabiki's statement, his was true. Not that she believed it. Between his rivalry with Ranma, and his two 'loves', Nabiki believed the odds were that Ryoga was desperate to get somewhere. The only questions were how much to squeeze out of him before pointing him the right way and how much more to do it again after he screwed it up the first time.

"Well, if you want to see Akane or Akari anytime soon, I could point you in the right direction," Nabiki said in her best saleswoman voice.

"For a small fee," Ryoga added with surprising bitterness.

The sudden mood change caught Nabiki off guard. But the annoyance of Ryoga stealing her line overrode the subtle warning signal her subconscious mind gave. "No small fee. Just buy me dinner and I'll send you on your way."

Ryoga sighed internally. If he could escape Nabiki for the price of dinner, which would not be a small fee, that was fine. Besides, he was hungry for food cooked by someone else and, in her own way, she was pretty enough to look at for an hour or so.

Nabiki ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, ate two bites once it arrived and sent it back before ordering what she really wanted. "So what happened in that fight with Ranma?" she asked.

Ryoga swallowed a bit of eel tempura and answered, "Your plan worked. I challenged him to a Martial Arts chugging contest and he drank the bottle of stuff you gave me in nothing flat. After I was sure it kicked in, I stomped his ass. The bastard deserved it for almost getting Akane killed at Jusendo."

His anger at Ranma was nearly a tangible force so Nabiki back-pedaled a bit and concentrated on her meal for a few minutes. But eventually, she led the conversation back to subject matter that interested her as desert was winding down. "I'm glad our plan worked, but I'm curious about one thing."

"What's that?" Ryoga asked, puzzled.

"How did you stick Ranma's curse?"

"Huh?" This was something he'd been unaware of. Could it have had something to do with...

"Oh, you don't have to play coy with me Ryoga," Nabiki said in her most persuasive tone. She even leaned forward to present a little cleavage. "Knowing how to keep Ranma female when I want to could be worth quite a bit... to both of us. So tell me."

Ryoga came to the not so sudden revelation that he hated Nabiki Tendo. "Well, I can't really tell you," he said with a fang bearing smile, "but I can show you."

"All right."

No one who knew Nabiki Tendo ever saw her again.

-----

"Oh," Cocoa moaned as she soaked in the warmth of Gero Spa's best hot spring. "I think I could stay here a week."

"Two weeks. My feet are killing me," Jello added as she floated nearby with her eyes closed.

"C'mon, this trip hasn't been that rough," Soap observed as she slowly settled herself into the water. "Oh... wait... Oooh... This is nice," the youngest of the hunting party finished serenely.

Strong Gal scoffed at her tribal sisters from where she stood near the changing room. They had come to Japan on a mission for Elder Cologne and half their party was laying in hot water like ramen noodles just put in the pot. At least Shampoo and Susie were watching the roads for any sign of their target. But they too planned to take turns in idle decadence. Weak. They were all weak. Every last one of them.

Strong Gal was still disgusted with her fellow Amazons the next morning as they headed out. They were all treating the mission far too casually. They'd approached within three kilometers of the Unryu farm before Shampoo laid out her plan. Three kilometers. Yes, the lay of the land was such that it should be a safe distance. Yes, their target was one rather unmistakable man. But as unpredictable as this Ryoga was supposed to be, a casual approach was not tactically sound. Had she been leading...

Strong Gal quashed that thought harshly. She'd already tried a dominance ploy and failed. For better, or more likely for worse, Shampoo was in charge of the expedition and Strong Gal's own sense of pride would not allow her to do other than her best. Which made what happened even worse.

Soap and Jello had circled the farm at a distance to scout the northern approach. Strong Gal and Susie were to watch the southern route. Shampoo and Cocoa took the job of close reconnaissance. Shampoo even went so far as to activate her Jusenkyo curse, which had been meant as a punishment dammit, in order to keep a lower profile.

Half an hour after the other groups left, a break came in the monotony of observing the southern approach from concealment. A signal whistle, blown in the pattern for 'come' sounded in the valley containing the Unryu farm. Eager for action, Strong Gal charged in at top speed brandishing her spear-mace. Upon noting that her tribal sister was running flat out, Susie took off after her thinking she might have mistaken the call for one less urgent.

Upon finding only Akari at the farm, Shampoo had scratched out 'make peaceful contact' in the dirt in front of Cocoa. The Amazonian visitor had done so and even obtained hot water for Shampoo to return to human form. The signal whistle had been blown to call in the rest of the hunting party. It should have been simple.

However, Strong Gal's reckless charge drew a response from a source she'd never considered. She knew Akari Unryu raised pigs, she could smell that much. The fact that the young woman raised grand champion sumo pigs had somehow managed to escape Strong Gal.

Upon seeing a stranger charging the farm with something sharp and pointy, Katsu-nishiki leapt to the defense of his mistress. Squealing mightily, so as to alert the other sumo-pigs training nearby, the 14th Yokozuna of Pigdom dashed to cut off the incoming threat, reared up on his hind legs and stood ready for battle.

Strong Gal's charge collapsed into a slow walk as she took in the sight before her. Her weapon of choice dangled uselessly in her right hand. The largest pig she'd ever seen, even larger than the Russian boar she'd once hunted, was standing, on its hind legs no less, in front of her. It was an impressive specimen, easily capable of feeding her entire village. But it was just... surreal... how the animal stood there as if planning to attack her.

Katsu-nishiki got tired of waiting and attacked first, knocking the woman's sharp and pointy thing away from her. Her shock at this allowed the sumo-pig to follow up with a series of shoves that kept her off balance while guiding her toward a food trough.

Falling backwards over the obstacle, Strong Gal gathered her wits. Despite the odd nature of her opponent, she realized she was in a fight and unless she did something soon, she would lose. Pulling her knees to her chest, she reached behind her in an attempt to handspring away and put some distance between herself and her foe. On firmer ground, it might have worked. In the mud and loose dirt around the trough, her hands shot out from under her, leaving her face down and slightly stunned. Before she could return to her feet, a large porcine hoof placed itself in the middle of her spine.

After three failed attempts to heave herself free, and fully aware that if the animal wanted her dead she'd already be dead, Strong Gal very reluctantly accepted her defeat.

"Look! Strong Gal finally caught husband!" Susie said in broken Japanese before breaking down in gales of laughter. Soap joined her tribeswoman in excessive merriment while Jello merely snorted and smirked.

"Huh?" Akari asked of no one in particular.

Cocoa, whose Japanese was excellent, explained. "It is Amazon law that if a warrior is defeated by a male, she gives him 'The Kiss of Marriage' and he becomes her husband."

"Well, Katsu-nishiki is certainly male, but he isn't human. He can't be anyone's husband."

"Oh, we can fix that," Susie said between laughs. "Got two pouches of instant Nannichuan in pack."

Akari knew of Jusenkyo from her beloved Ryoga. Even though it had transformed him into a pig, Akari felt he wasn't that fond of the place. The chance to see the reverse in action was disturbingly intriguing to her. What would Katsu-nishiki be like as a man? Akari shook her head hard to dislodge the thought, but it refused to budge.

"You think I marry pig, you die first," Strong Gal ground out through clenched teeth from her place under the sumo pig's hoof.

Soap stopped laughing long enough to reply in her native tongue, "He wouldn't be a pig when you married him, just before and after like every other man." She managed to keep her face straight for two seconds before cracking up again.

"No hot water during the honeymoon," Jello added before she too began laughing uncontrollably.

-----

While the Amazons discussed the merits of wedding Strong Girl to Katsu-nishiki, Ranma Saotome walked north on the road leading to the Unryu farm from Gero Spa. He'd got lucky in Nagoya, arriving with enough time grab a late dinner before hopping the last train to Kanayama. His senses were on full alert as he traveled. If Ryoga was with Akari, he could walk into a trap or something far worse.

Ryoga Hibiki looked around and realized if that last town really had been Kamioka, he was only a day or two's walk away from Akari's farm, assuming he didn't get lost. While he had no desire to spend time with the pigs, the pigs' owner was another story. He felt confident and eager enough to try his romantic luck with someone who might actually be willing. So eager, that he hopped a south bound freight train that he knew passed within two kilometers of Akari's home. With luck, he would be there in two hours.


	12. Fated Meetings

After reluctantly deciding not to use the instant Nannichuan powder on Katsu-nishiki, Akari Unryu finally managed to ask what her unexpected guests were doing on her farm. The Amazons told her. The fact they were a hunting party disturbed her. The fact they were hunting Ryoga Hibiki disturbed her more. The reasons why they hunted Ryoga disgusted her. The reasons behind that, she simply could not believe.

It was odd. Ranma actively wanting to kill Ryoga didn't really surprise her. The gap between 'rival' and 'enemy' wasn't that great. But the claim that her beloved had... raped... anyone, even an enemy, let alone Ranma, was beyond her ability to accept. So she didn't.

"You're lying," Akari ground out through clenched teeth. "You lie, you lie, you lie, you lie..."

Shampoo and Cocoa exchanged nervous glances. Every sumo pig Akari owned watched their mistress get angrier by the second.

"...you lie, you lie, you lie..."

Sheer weight of numbers and the weight of those numbers favored the pig farmer. The situation had gone from comical to dire.

"...you lie, you lie, you lie..."

Before Akari could work herself up to ordering an attack, Shampoo slide-stepped behind the pig farmer and struck the pressure points that normally began the Xi Fa Xiang Gao. Lacking the herbal shampoo required for memory manipulation, the opening maneuver from that technique still served as an adequate stunner.

Holding her victim up by the armpits, in a low voice Shampoo stated, "I am going to set her in her porch swing and then we are going to quietly, carefully, and most of all calmly, walk out of here."

"We are Amazon warriors! We do not run from a fight!" Strong Gal replied in a cross between a roar and a whisper.

Shampoo would have slapped her had she not been otherwise occupied. "We are not here to fight a herd of pigs," she hissed venomously. "We are here to find Ryoga Hibiki before Ranma kills him in order to save his genetic line. Despite my not seeing what use the Joketzu have for the genes of a rapist."

"Elder Cologne, your own great grandmother, ordered it. -That- is enough." Behind her, some of the pigs started to wander away. Katsu-nishiki was a distinct exception.

"We will discuss this _later._"

Later turned out to be eight minutes and over a kilometer west of the Unryu farm. Or it would have been had Cocoa not detected the approach of something coming through the forest at the same time a freight train's whistle rolled across the rugged Japanese countryside. She raised her hand in the near universal sign of 'stop'.

The impending argument was instantly set aside as the entire hunting party became motionless. Weapons ready, listening and observing with their entire beings, they quickly and silently spread out to find what was out there before whatever it was found them. It didn't take long.

Hogs raised in China are not much like the painstakingly bred, raised and trained sumo pigs of the Unryu farm. They are primarily considered sources of food with other useful products obtainable from their carcasses. So the fact that pigs are among the smartest of domestic animals (Unryu pigs being significantly smarter than average) meant little to the Amazons. They also have well developed senses of smell. This meant despite not being specifically trained for it, Katsu-nishiki was capable of tracking the hunting party by scent and had done so. Had he been a ninja pig instead of a sumo pig, he might have made a better approach.

"Look!" Jello cried while pointing back the direction they had come, "Strong Gal's husband tracked her down. It must be true love." She thought the situation very humorous and began laughing so hard, she could barely hold onto her sword.

Rage burned in Strong Gal's eyes, flaring a red battle aura into being. With a strained voice, she ground out, "That's... Not... FUNNY!" before hurling her spear-mace at her laughing tribeswoman.

Products of their own selective breeding program, Amazon warriors are stronger, faster and tougher than most. Amongst themselves, this tends to even out. But Strong Gal had been runner up at the tournament where Ranma Saotome and the Amazon tribe first crossed paths and a better fighter than anyone present except Shampoo. The spear-mace flew straight and true at her target's head. Jello never saw it coming and died before she hit the ground.

Shock ran through the hearts and minds of Soap, Susie, Shampoo and Cocoa. Jello, the tribal sister they had known and loved was gone. Snuffed out by the berserker rage of another of their tribal sisters. Individually, yet all at once, in their souls they declared Strong Gal an outsider and any outsider woman who defeated an Amazon warrior was to be killed. The formality of the Kiss of Death could be applied after the fact.

Cocoa got the first shot off, an arrow intended for Strong Gal's heart. In her chi-enhanced state, Strong Gal snatched it from the air and flung it toward Soap, the closest target. Fortunately, arrows are not designed to be hand thrown and that fact explained why she only grazed the young woman instead of skewering her through the gut.

Berserkers were a rare, but not unknown, phenomenon in Amazon history. Stories were told that gave them the strength of hundreds and the power to destroy entire armies. How they would slay and slay until there was no one left to kill save themselves. But those were only stories. The reality was bad enough.

Strong Gal breathed hard and fast as she super-oxygenated her blood. Her heart raced ever faster to supply that fuel to her body. Left alone, heart failure might eventually kill Strong Gal without her former tribeswomen doing anything but surviving. But the situation was far worse than that.

The burning red chi that lit the forest clearing increased Strong Gal's formidable strength and amped her reflexes to Amiguriken levels. With a weapon to focus through, she could shred opponents at a distance, much like the chi-claws of the neko-ken. Strong Gal no longer felt pain, or much of anything other than a desire to kill any who stood against her.

The Amazons didn't care. Strong Gal had to die and they were going to kill her or perish in the attempt.

Confident in her invulnerability, Strong Gal stalked over to Jello's corpse to retrieve her weapon. She instinctively batted two more arrows out of the air without thinking. When Soap rushed in to strike with her twin maces, she was backhanded with enough force to lose both weapons and consciousness.

"Aim lower!" Shampoo shouted to Cocoa as she rushed the berserker. The next arrow, below easy snatching range, pierced Strong Gal's left calf. Her leader's plan was obvious: Hamstring the bitch, then they could kill her from a safe distance. But before Cocoa could fire again, Shampoo entered close combat with the frenzied woman. Not willing to risk the shot and knowing her whip wouldn't do enough damage to be worthwhile, she went to check on Soap.

As soon as Strong Gal began moving towards Jello's body, Susie knew she intended to regain her spear-mace. She knew the old tales as well as any. Strong Gal must not be allowed to retrieve her weapon. She ran toward her fallen tribal sister and on arrival took a mighty swing despite the damage it would inflict on the corpse. Jello had already gone to meet her ancestors, she wouldn't mind.

Lopping off the mace head in one blow, she turned, swung and removed the other end's spear point with a flowing chop. Not stopping to admire her handiwork, she turned toward Shampoo and Strong Gal only to see Strong Gal looming over her, fists upraised, and see Shampoo not at all. In a desperation move, she ducked with the intent of scrambling between her opponent's legs. Halfway through the maneuver, it was rendered moot as the impact of a charging Katsu-nishiki knocked Strong Gal a good twenty meters downfield.

His reasons for joining the fight would have been difficult to explain even if he'd used Instant Nannichuan to become human for the attempt. The feeling that his mistress, in the long run, would be safer if the big glowing human were ground into sausage... would be pretty close.

"BUKI!" Katsu-nishiki charged again. But this time Strong Gal was ready for him. Curling her fingers into claws, she slashed down and caught him in mid stride. The impact was still enough to knock her back a foot, but her fingers tore into the meat of his shoulders as she bodily lifted him off the ground. She slammed the sumo pig into a pine tree adding that pain to what already surged through him. The attack was repeated until the tree's trunk snapped a few feet above the ground. Tiring of her game, she threw Katsu-nishiki to where the Amazons had regrouped by Jello's body. They easily avoided the porcine projectile, who was sorely injured by the rough treatment. The fallen tree was a tougher dodge, but at least the berserk warrior hadn't thought to keep it for use as a club.

Strong Gal once more moved toward her former tribal sisters. She was in no hurry. While her body was being taxed, she had a long way to go before it would fail her. Easily long enough to kill those present with a return to the Unryu farm for dessert.

Cocoa emptied her quiver at the woman glowing from her own rage as her companions spread out. Anything above her mid thigh was batted away without conscious effort. One skilled or lucky shot pierced her target's right knee, finally putting a noticeable kink in her step. She'd been backing up after each shot the entire attack, making sure Strong Gal paid attention to her and no one else. Which had been the entire point. The damage she'd managed to inflict was strictly a bonus.

The danger sense that warns warriors of attacks they cannot see functions, is even enhanced, during a berserk state. But even an early warning is sometimes not enough. An attack came toward her back and Strong Gal turned to meet it. But she had to turn on her left leg, not her significantly damaged right and thus into the attack instead of away from it. Despite that, Strong Gal caught one of the throwing knives appropriated from Jello's gear and thrown by Soap even as the other entered her left side to pierce her spleen. Copious amounts of blood flowed from the wound once she pulled the dagger free. Strong Gal's return throws of those weapons would have split Soap's skull in half had Shampoo not blocked them with Jello's sword. Her own battle aura glowed purple around her and her borrowed weapon.

With Strong Gal's attention focused on Shampoo and Soap, Susie was able to dive in, slash her foe's right leg with her axe, shoulder roll and leap away barely ahead of massive retaliation. Although she felt no pain, the damage had been done. She took a step toward Shampoo only to have her right leg buckle underneath her.

By chi-enhanced will, she didn't fall, but knew it was only a matter of time before she did.

Strong Gal knew she could still crush her enemies if only she could lay hands upon them. But she couldn't reach them on legs that didn't work. And all her strength was useless without a way to use it. And there wasn't even anything she could throw. So she fell to her knees and cried until she was too weak to support the rage that had both fueled her and failed her.

Shampoo cautiously lead the remaining Amazons forward to surround the mortally injured woman after her aura winked out.

"Am... Am I g-going t-to die now?" Strong Gal asked with the voice of a little girl.

"Yes, yes you are," Shampoo told her.

"I-I'm s-sorry... But I t-told y-y-you... I-I'm n-not ma-marrying that d-damn p-p-pig." With a final spasm, Strong Gal pitched forward and departed this life to join her ancestors. Reverently, Shampoo bent forward and gave Kiss of Death to a woman who had already died.

After shattering a few appropriate boulders, which they were glad Strong Gal hadn't thought to use as weapons, they built a cairn for Jiao Lu, burying her with her weapons. After a short discussion, they began building a second cairn for Sihong Gao.

Katsu-nishiki lay dying. He'd managed to crawl away from the battle site, but didn't get far. He hurt and he bled and he couldn't move anymore and he knew, to the extent he could understand the concept, that he was going to die. Not even all his Mistress' love and care could save him. With his last breaths, the wind brought a familiar scent. It was his Mistress' beloved. The one she hoped to mate and litter the next generation of Unryus to raise the next several generations of sumo pigs. Tiny feelings of hope and contentment ran through Katsu-nishiki as he took his last breath. But that last breath carried the hint of another scent, one he almost knew, but changed, twisted. The scent of a woman cruelly used. Joy transformed to despair and the 14th Yokozuna of Pigdom died.

---

Ryoga Hibiki hopped off the freight train at what he hoped was the right point for a visit to the Unryu farm. As the train moved south, the presence of chi in the air captured his attention. It didn't feel quite right, but it was still possible that someone had a new technique he could learn.

As he went to investigate, he briefly got lost. Twice. The only thing that kept him from getting completely lost was remembering to not cross the railroad tracks. As he wandered vaguely in Akari's direction, a shift in the wind brought the coppery odor of blood to his nostrils. He picked up the pace.

"What the hell?" Ryoga Hibiki asked of no one in particular when he found the body of Akari's prize sumo-pig. Massive bruises covered Katsu-nishiki's flanks and large bloody gouges had been torn into his shoulders. Nothing he couldn't have done were he so inclined, but it was clear to him that whoever killed the animal was both powerful and cruel. It was with some worry that he began running in what he hoped was the correct direction through the semi-familiar countryside.

---

"What do we do now cousin?" Soap asked Shampoo after the burial cairns were finished.

With two dead and nothing to show for it, Shampoo replied quietly, "I don't know. I just don't know. I don't know anything anymore." The mechanics of burial she could handle, that didn't require her to think. But the task of leading what was left of their expedition was, at least for the moment, beyond her. She couldn't notify Cologne of what had happened, or even ask for instructions, as the satellite phone had been destroyed in the fight with Strong Gal. The burden was quite rightly hers and it wasn't one she could bear.

The wallowing in self pity came to an abrupt end as Ryoga Hibiki stumbled into the clearing where the remnants of the Amazon hunting party mourned their dead. Suddenly calm, she said, "Cocoa, take Soap and Susie back to Gero Spa and wait for me. If I do not arrive in a day, go to Nerima and inform Cologne of what has happened."

Ryoga saw Shampoo talking to some Amazons that looked vaguely familiar from the trip to Jusendo where Akane had nearly died. From the smell, he guessed the two cairns contained fresh bodies, of whom he didn't want to guess. But if by chance one of them were Akari, he planned to slaughter the lot of them.

Three of them were heading into the forest before he found his voice. "_What the hell happened?_" he demanded of Shampoo as she turned to face him.

Shampoo crossed her arms in front of her, grabbed the hem of her short dress and peeled it off in one movement. Dropping it on the ground in front of her, she took an additional second to remove her panties, leaving herself naked in front of a man whom she would have much preferred to kill than seduce.

"Hey pig-boy, wanna fuck?" she asked in a parody of seductiveness.

---

Cocoa headed south with Soap and Susie, staying well away from the Unryu farm. Stepping out of the woods onto the road from Kanayama to Takayama, they looked north to see a young man in a sleeveless red silk shirt, carrying a heavy pack, walking down the road toward Akari's. Having a reasonable idea of what Shampoo was doing, one she had expressly _not_ told the fifteen year old Soap, Cocoa chose to help in the manner most conducive to Amazon goals.

"Oy! Saotome! Over here!" she cried.

Allowing for the speed of sound, Ranma turned around almost immediately. He didn't recognize them individually, but as a species, they were clearly Chinese Amazons. Mousse had mentioned a hunting party searching for Ryoga, but it was supposed to be larger than three people. Maybe they'd split up. On the off chance they might have news of Ryoga's location, he trotted toward them at a brisk pace.

---

"I can't even say I'm mad anymore," Ranma explained moments later. "I just want ta get this over with and get back ta my life, or what's left of it."

Cocoa nodded sagely as she ticked another minute off her mental clock. "There is an old saying, so old it's not even Chinese, 'The best remedy for anger is delay.'"

"I'll havta remember that one," Ranma replied. "It... fits."

"When we last saw Hibiki, about twenty minutes ago, he was with Shampoo in a clearing containing the graves of two of our sisters. It is about 2 kilometers north of here and a little over half that west of the Unryu farm. You will know it by the stench."

Ranma's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "Did he..?"

"No. It was... an internal dispute. Tragic, but not..." The word 'related' died on her lips. Had they not been searching for Hibiki, they would never have been in Japan in the first place. But they were looking for him because of what he had done. Which had been in revenge for something else, which could be traced back to prior causes years in the past. "...anything he did," she eventually finished.

Ranma left without a word, moving at a dead run through the forest, dodging trees, but nothing smaller. Far behind him, Susie whispered, "Good hunting Saotome-san."

Minutes later, his nose told him he'd found the right place. Neither Ryoga nor Shampoo was anywhere in sight, but someone, presumably Shampoo, had left a note scratched into the dirt between the two piles of stacked stone. 'He went that way' and an arrow pointing toward the Unryu farm.

Ryoga searched the farm for Akari and had come up empty. Mildly annoying, but after finishing with Shampoo and verifying that Akari wasn't either of the two corpses he'd found, not a particularly urgent problem. The pigs were gone too. Whether off training, or at a match, or perhaps absent for some other reason, he didn't know or care. It was their owner he wanted.

Giving up the search for Akari as a lost cause, he raided her refrigerator for a snack knowing she wouldn't mind. Washing the cold chicken and rice down with some soda, he got ready to leave the farm. Maybe it was time to find Ranma and get it over with. No, he realized he should probably avoid Nerima for the time being. Home. Yes, home sounded good. South until he reached the ocean, east until he reached Yaizu. As long as he kept east and west straight, it should be a piece of cake.

Before he could head the wrong way down the road in front of Akari's house, an explosion from the direction of the pig barn got his attention. Instead of having to look for Ranma, Saotome had obliged him by finding him first. Looked like he wanted a fight too.

"All right," Ryoga said to himself as he doffed his pack. "Let's get this done."


	13. Endgame

During his mad dash to the Unryu farm, Ranma shrugged off his pack and lobbed it upward to rest in a tree. It wouldn't do to lose what little food he had left to scavengers. His canteen, he kept because he had a use for it.

Upon reaching his goal, he found the farm eerily silent. No sound of pigs eating, practicing sumo, or even just enjoying a good wallow. No sign of the young woman for whom the animals were constant companions. But as he rumbled to a stop, he knew he wasn't alone. Ryoga was nearby, he could feel it in his soul, a soul that cried out for revenge.

He took a moment to search the barn. With Ryoga's navigational difficulties, being there was as likely as anyplace else. Bringing up his aura, he focused a ball of chi into his hand to act as a flashlight. Finding nothing, he left the barn and spotted Ryoga just off Akari's front porch. Surprised, the chi ball blew up in his hand. The minor explosion did no harm but did get his rapist's attention.

Ryoga glanced at Ranma, an expression somewhere between resignation and distaste crossing his features. He dropped his heavy pack on the bottom porch step, which broke, drew his combat umbrella from the loops on top, nodded once knowingly and charged.

Ranma wanted to end it quickly. A splash of water would be a far simpler and safer method of dealing with Ryoga than unleashing the rage that boiled up within him. It would also prevent the collateral damage a full bore, knock down, drag out, no holds barred would cause, a concept the rational part of his mind insisted was important.

Ranma dashed the contents of his canteen at his befanged opponent... and missed when Ryoga popped open his umbrella to block what little water he didn't avoid by leaping left. "That's... not... like... you... Ranma.., trying... to... cheapshot... me," he said, each word punctuated by a swing of his weapon.

Ranma dodged them all, perhaps not as smoothly as he'd like, but by adequate margins. Anger was clouding his judgment, and as with Akane, it was severely screwing up his accuracy. Focus. He needed focus. Hopping back out of close combat range, he demanded "Where's Akari?"

"Not here," Ryoga answered before asking, "Why should you care?" The fact the Ranma was trying to distract him pleased Ryoga immensely. Maybe he wouldn't need drugs or a new move to defeat Ranma. Maybe he could win this one on his own skill. 'And wouldn't that just beat all?' he asked himself rhetorically before making a lateral leap to close the distance between himself and his opponent.

Ranma hoped his foe told the truth as one less complication was always desirable. Ducking under a swing meant to crush his skull, he turned and buried his fist in his opponent's gut.

Ryoga flew backwards to smash into the Unryu front porch by his pack. Shaking his head to clear it, he quickly regained his feet before Ranma could close in. When Ranma didn't arrive as expected, he looked around to find his foe standing motionless.

"I don't think ya get it Ryoga," Ranma said coldly. "This ain't a fight. This is me kickin' your ass." Power and speed enhanced above his 'normal' phenomenal levels by the chi that flowed through him, the blow had been ridiculously easy to land. If he could keep control, it wouldn't be a fight between equals or near equals, it would be vengeance.

Ryoga replied, "Yeah right, whatever. You're going to have to do better than that to beat me." The blow had been stronger than expected, but still more surprising than painful. The Bakusai Tenketsu training, reinforced by frequent use of the technique, allowed him to ignore hits that would cripple most men.

"I got lots better," Ranma taunted while making 'come and get it' motions with his fingers.

Allowing himself to be goaded, Ryoga confidently approached his foe, weapon at the ready. Closing to within a meter, he thrust his umbrella at Ranma's sternum, aiming for the solar plexus, only to have Ranma grab the weapon in mid attack bringing it to a sudden halt. If it was a strength contest he wanted, Ryoga was more than happy to oblige.

Ranma, not being stupid, wanted no such thing. As soon as he felt Ryoga put significant force into moving the umbrella, he stopped all resistance. Caught off balance, Ryoga found himself flying upside down through the air toward the pig trough. With a desperate twist, he managed to avoid impact with the watery obstacle. He landed in the same mud that less than an hour earlier Strong Gal had occupied. No damage done was done except to his dignity. But if Ranma wanted to bring the curses into the fight...

'I shoulda known he'd do that', Ranma thought as Ryoga lobbed the entire trough his direction. While certain that he could still defeat Ryoga as a girl, he saw no reason to take an unnecessary hit. Ranma leapt up, touched down on the barn roof and leapt higher still out of splash range. His hope that Ryoga would nail himself with the attack went unfulfilled.

Ryoga snatched off one of his bandanas, tore it to pieces, charged those pieces with chi and threw them at the still airborne Ranma. Thus treated, they were stronger than steel and more than razor sharp. He figured that Ranma, in the middle of a ballistic trajectory, wouldn't be able to dodge all of them.

Ryoga was half right. Ranma fell as predicted, but as bandana-shuriken buzzsawed past the target, none of them came close enough to threaten injury. The moment he landed, Ranma sprang forward, somersaulted in mid-air and slid feet first toward Ryoga. Who in turn pivoted back on his right foot and as Ranma slid past, swung his weapon in the manner of a golf club. "Fore!"

Ranma's hands shot above his head, their strength absorbing most of the blow's force. What remained knocked him through the muddy area near the trough's former location. Dropping a slipper clad foot to the ground, he popped upright as if completing a particularly successful steal of second base. He spun toward his attacker, smirked and again made 'come and get it' motions with his fingers.

Ryoga was distracted just long enough for his previously thrown bandana-shuriken to return like boomerangs to their launching point. The first slashed the sleeve of his shirt before embedding itself in the mud, others he avoided, one he sucked the chi back out of, making its impact harmless. The next to last whirling piece of cloth traced a bloody scratch diagonally across the skin above Ryoga's left shoulder blade while he avoided a more serious wound from the last of chi-charged weapons.

"Moron," Ranma muttered as he drew first blood. Having wasted his best two opportunities to end the fight quickly, he decided that as long he was careful, drawing it out would be just fine.

"Real impressive Ranma," Ryoga called sarcastically after assuring himself his wound was minor. "You actually gonna do something, or are you all talk and no action?"

"At least I ain't dumb enough ta get hit by my own attacks," Ranma replied while brushing the worst of the mud off his pants. "That's half your problem right there. Ya don't pay attention."

His opponent ignored the remark and began a slow approach, considering and discarding potential attacks while making sure he wasn't being lead into a spiral. Ranma backed off at an angle seeking firmer ground before launching his next attack. Slipping on pig trampled dirt was no part of his plan. Ryoga took the tactical retreat as a sign of cowardice and confidently dashed forward, making an overhead swing capable of cracking stone with his umbrella.

Expecting this, Ranma planted his feet and leaned left. Using his right hand to guide the weapon harmlessly past him, his open left hand connected with a ringing slap to Ryoga's face. Without stopping, he turned the lean into a spin and planted his right elbow into Ryoga's back.

Stumbling forward two steps, Ryoga used his umbrella as a prop to stabilize himself for the split second required to regain his balance and once again turn toward Ranma. The slap was dismissed as a calculated insult, but the other blow was recognized for what it was, an intentional strike at a weak point, a cheapshot. While the Bakusai Tenketsu training had toughened his whole body, the parts that would be closest to an exploding boulder were naturally toughest. This did not include his back. That Ranma felt it necessary to use such tactics fueled Ryoga's confidence despite pain he felt. He smiled wolfishly, fangs and all.

Ranma stood just a little bit out of arm plus weapon's length and glared at Ryoga with a look of absolute disdain on his face. "You payin' attention yet?" he asked as they circled and not spiraled around.

"Fuck you!" Ryoga retorted. It was a nearly fatal choice of words.

A crackling red aura flared into existence, its light visible throughout the valley holding the Unryu farm. "You already did!" Ranma screamed as he launched himself, fist first, at the man he wanted to destroy.

Purely on instinct, Ryoga blocked with his umbrella. The weapon that in his hands could shatter concrete and crack boulders, the weapon that most people couldn't even lift, let alone wield, saved his life. Instead of crashing through Ryoga's rib cage and crushing his heart, the blow was robbed of power in the umbrella's destruction and deflected just enough that his training toughened body survived both the initial impact and those that followed as he was knocked through the barn and out the other side.

Somewhere in flight, Ryoga took out the main support beam for the hay loft. The straw and other supplies stored there rained to the barn floor, obscuring vision within and around the wounded structure. Ranma stood outside Ryoga's entry point, his aura already fading, and waited. He hadn't wanted to use the rage and anger he felt. It had just... come... when Ryoga goaded him. After seeing the results, Ranma knew he never wanted to let his emotions run that freely again.

Ryoga woke to a world of hurt and tried to remember what had just happened. He'd been fighting Ranma. Ranma had taunted him, something about paying attention. He'd said something... Ranma lit up brighter than Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and shouted, no screamed, something before hitting him harder than he'd ever had in his life. 'What was it?' he thought as pain signals coursed through his body.

Taking necessarily small sips of air, he began focusing his internal awareness. Easier to list what didn't hurt. His hands were okay, left better than right. Eyes functioning normally, ears ringing slightly. His toes wiggled when he told them to. But he forgot the idea of getting up anytime soon, no matter how attractive it might be. Deepening his breathing, Ryoga decided to let his body take care of itself for a moment while he tried to figure out what happened.

He'd sworn. He'd said "Fuck you!" in response to something Ranma had said. Then Ranma lit up, momentarily blinding him and screamed... What had he screamed? Ryoga muttered aloud, "I said 'Fuck you', he lights up, and screams... Screams... He screams, 'You... already... did...' Oh crap... He knows."

With that realization, Ryoga's life crumbled to dust. His growing confidence: Gone. His feelings of invulnerability: Gone. His future, no matter what direction it might take: Gone. Depression rushed into the places all those things had been. In an odd way, this gladdened him. Depression was an old friend and it was something he could work with. All he needed was a target.

Ranma obliged by stepping into sight from the damaged barn.

"PERFECTED SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Ryoga cried from the bottom of his soul. A towering pillar of green chi lit the sky more brightly than Ranma's aura had done earlier.

Ranma knew the best way to deal with Ryoga's major chi attack was to not be there when it hit. Before Ryoga finished calling his shot, Ranma engaged the Saotome Ultimate Technique and ran for it. When the heavy chi crashed to Earth, it destroyed the already damaged barn, but did nothing to its intended target.

As soon as the dust cleared enough for Ryoga to see Ranma standing unharmed, he tried again. "MAXIMUM POWER SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Seeing his first attack fail fueled his depression to new heights.

"Akari! Look out!" Ranma shouted while pointing to some point behind Ryoga.

"Huh?" the bewildered fighter grunted in concern as he whipped his head around to see what Ranma was pointing at. Akari wasn't someone he wanted hurt. Momentarily distracted and not emotionally empty, the depression attack struck Ryoga full force, not quite knocking him out, but rendering him incapable of further fighting.

"I can't believe he fell for that," Ranma muttered as he walked forward. Staring down at the person who had nearly wrecked his life, he asked, "Why'd ya do it?"

Ryoga slurred his words through bleeding lips. "Because I was tired. I was tired of you... and me... and everything we've done since the damn day we first met and I just wanted it to be over. I wanted one victory... that you couldn't take away from me. Ever. Just one."

"So ya decided to _rape_ me!" Ranma shouted.

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO KNOW!" the fallen fighter roared back. "You weren't ever supposed to know. It was my one victory... locked up inside my head... where nobody would ever find it... nobody but me."

Silence fell over the battlefield that had once been the Unryu farm.

Ranma kneeled, snatched Ryoga's remaining bandana off his head and tossed it away before slowly drawing back his own fist. Ryoga sneered in quiet defiance and awaited his death.

"KYYAAAAA!"

Ranma's hand blurred forward at an appreciable percentage of the speed of sound, stopping just above Ryoga's forehead. Chi, precisely controlled, turned his fingernails into knives. With bold, swift strokes, he carved the kanji for 'rapist' into Ryoga's forehead. Wishing for two mirrors to show Ryoga what he'd done, he settled for watching the newly created wounds bleed.

After explaining what he'd done, he told Ryoga, "I give you my solemn word, if I ever see you again, I'll kill you. If Akane ever sees you again, I'll kill you. If you ever set foot in Nerima again, I'll kill you. If you ever cover up that mark on your head, I'll kill you." In contempt, Ranma turned away from the person he'd once considered friend and walked away.

"No, you won't kill me, you're too much of a wimp," Ryoga whispered. "But I'll kill you for this," he ground out. "I'll train and I'll learn and I'll practice and someday, when you least expect it, I'll come back and I'll kill you," he raved, his voice growing shrill.

Ranma ignored him.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill everyone you hold dear. Their deaths will be all your fault. Listen to me! They'll all die and it'll be your fault!"

Ranma ignored him.

Ryoga hobbled over to the remains of the Unryu barn. Picking up chunk of board, he threw it at Ranma with all the strength he could muster. Connecting with enough force to spin his target around, he managed to get Ranma's attention.

"I see you."

END

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Epilogue:

When Ranma returned to Nerima, he found the changes in himself, in others, and in Akane's case, a lack of change, too much to bear. While he loved Akane, he realized that he would never be able to live with her. The trust issues were too great to overcome. After paying off the loan provided by Cologne, he left Nerima, returning occasionally, but never for long. 'Settling down' simply wasn't in his blood, but teaching, learning and occasionally even romance played their parts in his life for many years.

The Cat Cafe closed its doors soon after Ranma left, its purpose fulfilled, or perhaps unfulfilled but no longer necessary. Cologne returned to her position of elder, Shampoo to a new position of mother and Mousse to that of husband, but not Shampoo's husband. That she would freely choose sex with Ryoga but spurn his affections turned out to be the wedge that finally separated Mousse from his obsession with Shampoo. He and Soap got along just fine.

Ukyo Kuonji stayed in Furinkan long enough to graduate but left Nerima soon after. Konatsu stayed with her, their relationship never blossoming into romance and never needing to.

Akari Unryu mourned her losses, made peace with herself and set out to breed and train the next Yokozuna of Pigdom.

Cured of her uncontrolled transformations, Hinako Ninomiya eventually made a successful play for Soun Tendo that didn't particularly thrill Akane and Kasumi, but was accepted by them before they got on with their own lives. Both maybe a little less happy than they could have been, but probably safer in the long run. An untraceable twenty thousand yen per month each sent from Niigata soothed some wounds while exacerbating others.

Genma, cut off from his son by circumstance, his wife by divorce and his best friend by Soun's marriage, with nothing left to lose, began an epic battle with Happosai in an attempt to prove that he still had some worth as a martial artist. He lost, but the attempt and those that followed gave him something useful to do.

Nodoka managed to delude herself into forgetting she'd ever been a mother or a wife, although some would claim she had never earned either of those titles in the first place.

In the course of her investigations, Dr. Mame Suimono eventually learned most of the truth about Ranma's, 'Ranko's', Genma's and Nodoka's relationship to the most chaotic era in Nerima's history. She was quite glad not to have been more involved. Even gladder to not have accused a rape victim as a rapist. Although years later, when her first grandson wanted to begin martial arts lessons, a small school in Nerima picked up an eager student and more eager student's grandmother.

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Author's Note: This isn't the story I'd originally intended to write. I was tired of seeing every pregnancy in fanfiction being carried to term without abortion even being mentioned. So I decided to change that. Because of my familiarity with Ranma 1/2, that became the setting. To reduce potential complaints, a rape based pregnancy was called for. Ranma, being male, could have an abortion without it coming as a huge surprise and Ryoga got stuck with the role of rapist because of his actions in the Koi fishing rod story. (Normally I write him as friendly but clueless, this time he got to be a bastard.)

Then I did the research for Chapter 3. I lack the vocabulary to adequately describe how intentionally screwed up contraception is in Japan. In a desire to present accurate information, the story became quite serious and remained that way. I think it's a better story this way. To those who were expecting a laugh riot and got this instead, I won't apologize, but I can understand where you're coming from. To those who wanted detailed rape scenes, work for a week at a rape crisis center and then ask yourself if you still want them. If you do, ask somebody else because I won't write one.

Ghost in the Machine

PS. In regards to some outstanding questions in this story, you can draw your own conclusions. I won't mind. 8)


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